This lecture series will introduce a historically and artistically most vibrant and diverse period, covering topics such as the decline of Puritanism and the restoration comedy, the negotiation of the civil society; the Augustan Age; the rise of the novel, of journalism and the modern reader; London as a political, architectural and social space; the British and the Atlantic Slave Trade, gender identities in the Ages of Enlightenment and Sensibility and many more. Readings: Most of the reading examples will be taken from the Norton Anthology of English Literature vol 2, the purchase of which is strongly recommended!
