Module ENGL46330: Early Modern Science Fiction

Department: English Studies

ENGL46330: Early Modern Science Fiction

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• The module is an introduction to English science fiction of the early modern period, c.1620–80. It covers the relevant works of Francis Bacon, John Wilkins, Francis Godwin, Margaret Cavendish, John Milton, and Aphra Behn, along with their ancient and medieval precursors, and the relevant social and intellectual contexts.

Content

• The module surveys the earliest science fiction in the English language: an extraordinary corpus of works published between the 1620s and 1680s, which opened new prospects for the literary imagination and created a new literary genre. In this brief but remarkably productive period, English authors first explored topics which are now familiar to us from modern works in the genre, but which were entirely unprecedented in their day: techno-scientific utopia, in Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis (1627); space travel, in John Wilkins’ Discovery of a World in the Moone (1638) and Francis Godwin’s Man in the Moone (1638); parallel-worlds fiction, in Margaret Cavendish’s Blazing World (1666); science-fictionalized adaptation of biblical narrative, in John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667/74); as well as satire of this new science-fiction enthusiasm, in Aphra Behn’s Emperor of the Moon (1683). Some of these authors, like Bacon and Cavendish, were also among the period’s most significant and progressive literary theorists, making new claims for the dignity and freedom of the literary imagination, and redefining the role of the author as a that of a ‘Creatoress’ of infinite new worlds, as Cavendish saw herself by the 1660s. Each of these works also constitutes a response to the momentous geographical and scientific developments of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This is the period which saw the emergence of modern science, no longer based on received authority but on first-hand observation and experiment. It is also the period in which European explorers circumnavigated the globe, ‘discovering’ entire continents previously unknown to them, while also greatly expanding their knowledge of already known regions and cultures. Their motives were by no means restricted to exploration for its own sake; they were the vanguard of aggressively expanding European empires, and colonial conquest and exploitation followed in their wake. Yet they fundamentally changed the European conception of the world, now immeasurably larger, infinitely more complex, and increasingly subject to modern scientific inquiry. Meanwhile, still more worlds were being discovered beyond our planet. For millennia, most Europeans had imagined the universe as geocentric and finite, and thus comfortingly human-focused: a vast and intricately designed but ultimately comprehensible mechanism, testifying both to the majesty of divine creation and of humanity’s privileged place in it. Within decades, however, this mechanism was shattered to pieces, and a new and mysterious, almost entirely uncharted universe took its place. Nicolaus Copernicus proved that the Earth revolved around the Sun, rather than the other way round; Thomas Digges and Giordano Bruno speculated that this heliocentric universe was also infinite and potentially populated by many other civilizations in addition to ours; and such speculation was further encouraged by the invention of the telescope and the pioneering telescopic observations of Galileo Galilei. These developments shook European culture to its core. Many people found them profoundly disorienting and disturbing. ‘[N]ew philosophy calls all in doubt’, wrote John Donne: ‘The sun is lost, and th’earth, [...] / ’Tis all in pieces, all coherence gone’. But what spooked Donne fascinated and even exhilarated other authors and thinkers. Heliocentrism thrilled Galileo, who found it a cosmopolitan experience in the fullest sense of the term, rejoicing that our planet partook in ‘the dance of the stars’ rather than being ‘the dump heap of the filth and dregs of the universe’. Bacon fantasized about what science might achieve, Wilkins was among the first to seriously consider the prospect of traveling to the Moon, Milton sought in deep space what he could not find in his Bible, while Cavendish embraced world-making as an escape from an oppressively patriarchal society. Drawing on all these developments and experiences, some of the greatest and most innovative English writers of the age created a new kind of literature. Later on, this literature would be named ‘science fiction’, and would achieve immense popularity and influence, which continues to this day—yet it emerged four centuries ago, out the unprecedented intellectual ferment that took place on the threshold of the modern world. The module explores this foundational period in the genre’s history, without presuming familiarity with any topic or work discussed.

Learning Outcomes

• On completion of this module, students will possess:
• An in-depth understanding of key works of the earliest work of science fiction in English literature
• An increased understanding of ancient and medieval precursors of science fiction literature
• An increased understanding of associated developments in literary theory of the early modern period
• An increased understanding of key related intellectual and cultural contexts, including geographical exploration and the emergence of modern science, especially modern astronomy and cosmology
• An increased understand of broader, cross-period arcs in English and European literary history

• Students studying this module will develop:
• Advanced critical skills in the close reading and analysis of literary and historical texts;
• An ability to offer advanced analysis of formal and aesthetic dimensions of literature;
• An ability to articulate and substantiate at a high level an imaginative response to literature;
• An ability to demonstrate an advanced understanding of the cultural, intellectual, socio-political contexts of literature;
• An ability to articulate an advanced knowledge and understanding of conceptual or theoretical literary material;
• An advanced command of a broad range of vocabulary and critical literary terminology.

• Students studying this module will develop:
• an advanced ability to analyse critically;
• an advanced ability to acquire complex information of diverse kinds in structured and systematic ways;
• an advanced ability to interpret complex information of diverse kinds through the distinctive skills derived from the subject;
• expertise in conventions of scholarly presentation and bibliographical skills;
• an independence of thought and judgement, and ability to assess acutely the critical ideas of others;
• sophisticated skills in critical reasoning;
• an advanced ability to handle information and argument critically;
• a competence in information-technology skills such as word-processing and electronic data access;
• professional organisation and time-management skills.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Students are encouraged to develop advanced conceptual abilities and analytical skills as well as the ability to communicate an advanced knowledge and conceptual understanding within seminars; the capacity for advanced independent study is demonstrated through the completion of two assessed pieces of work.
• Typically, directed learning may include assigning student(s) an issue, theme or topic that can be independently or collectively explored within a framework and/or with additional materials provided by the tutor. This may function as preparatory work for presenting their ideas or findings (sometimes electronically) to their peers and tutor in the context of a seminar.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University