to introduce students to the best of late eighteenth-century political satire and other forms of print politics, by both 'high' and 'low' authors
to explore that satire in the context of the political culture of Britain in the decade of the French Revolution.
to introduce students to the skills and techniques of interdisciplinary research
Module learning outcomes
Subject content
the varieties of political satire and other forms of print politics, their different social registers, and the different media in which they were published
the relationship between these forms and other more 'literary' kinds of print, including, for instance, the literary ballad as against popular song
a grasp of the some of the main political events and political conflicts in the period which became the occasions for the production of satires
an awareness of the relations between patrician politics and plebeian culture
·
Academic and graduate skills
the research skills to elucidate political satires in connection with parliamentary debates, newspaper articles, political pamphlets and caricatures
some grasp of the range of print cultures in late eighteenth-century Britain
Assessment
Task
Length
% of module mark
Essay/coursework 4500 Word Essay
N/A
100
Special assessment rules
None
Reassessment
None
Module feedback
Written feedback, given in Week 5 for original assessment, and within two weeks of submission for re-assessed work
Indicative reading
Bindman, David, The Shadow of the Guillotine: Britain and the French Revolution (London: British Museum Publications, 1989).
Donald, Diana, The Age of Caricature: Satirical Prints in the Reign of George III (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1996).
Godfrey, Richard, with Hallett, Mark, James Gillray: The Art of Caricature (London: Tate Publishing, 2001), esp. pp. 22-37, 90-185.
Thale, Mary: ed.), Selections from the Papers of the London Corresponding Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).
Barrell, John, The Spirit of Despotism (Oxford 2006).