Writing in the Mechanical Age: Literature, Science, and Technology in the 19th Century (Spring 2023) (original) (raw)

In his essay "Signs of th e Times" of 1829, the Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle characterizes the early 19 th century as the "Mechanical Age" or the "Age of Machinery". His seemingly clairvoyant text is not only a commentary on the rapid advances in technology, such as the steam engine and the expansion of the railway network, but also on the detrimental effects of these advances on the political, social, moral, and emotional lives of British society. Its skeptical attitude towards science and technology predicts a variety of thematic obsessions that will pervade the literary production of the entire century. In this seminar we will study a selection of British and Scottish novellas and short stories that react to 19 th century scientific and social change, including excerpts from Charles Dickens' short novel Hard Times (1854), which explores the psychological ramifications of the industrialization, Margaret Oliphant's short story The Land of Darkness (1886) and Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), which both echo anxieties regarding scientific advancement and experimentation, and finally H.G. Wells' science fiction story The Time Machine (1895), which portrays in a bleak and disturbingly accurate dystopian vision the possible consequences of evolution, capitalism, and climate change. We will contextualize our readings with excerpts from scientific and philosophical writings by Thomas Carlyle, Friedrich Engels, Charles Lyell, and Charles Darwin, among others. Visits to the Science and Technology galleries in the National Museum of Scotland, the Surgeon's Hall Museum as well as the Writer's Museum in Edinburgh may offer further historical context to our discussion. Students should acquire the primary texts of our seminar in the Norton Critical Edition (watch out for used copies in online thrift stores such as abebooks.de and medimops.de). It is important to purchase exactely the editions indicated since we will also be using the additional materials provided in the back of each book. All other texts and materials will be provided on Stud.IP.