Londoners in Fiction

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label Diverse autorenew 2025-09-29, 17:01 history_edu Silviu Marinescu
From twentieth-century poet Sylvia Plath to Renaissance statesman Thomas Cromwell, from Charles Dickens to Oscar Wilde, from legendary Restoration actress Nell Gwyn to Virginia Woolf - famous Londoners frequently feature in contemporary novels and plays. This course examines the complex relationship between history, biography, fact and fiction developed in fictional biographies.

Approaching these texts from various theoretical perspectives, such as critical biography studies, celebrity studies, gender theory and genre criticism, we will ask questions about the subjective nature of biographical representation, what it means to fictionalise a life, about possible criteria for evaluating biofiction, about whose stories get told and why.Offering an exciting opportunity to explore historical London lives through the booming genre of biofiction, and vice versa, this course examines the complex relationship between history, biography, fact and fiction developed in fictional biographies.

Approaching these texts from various theoretical perspectives, such as critical biography studies, celebrity studies, gender theory and genre criticism, we will ask questions about the subjective nature of biographical representation, what it means to fictionalise a life, about possible criteria for evaluating biofiction, about whose stories get told and why.Lively class room discussions and lectures will be complemented by literary walks and visits to the National Portrait Gallery and to historical sites featured in the texts.

Period
07-07-2014 - 25-07-2014 (3 weeks)

Target group
This course would most benefit students with an interest in historical fiction, biography, and issues of gender and celebrity. No previous background in English Literature is needed.



Course aim
This course aims to introduce students to a range of fictional biographies about historical Londoners, and to a range of critical perspectives on the genre. On completion, students will be able to critique fictional biographies in their historical and generic contexts, and to assess the complex and dynamic relationship between narration, representation, fact and fiction in any biographical text.

Credits
0.0 ECTS credits

Course fee
GBP 1430: tuition fee only

Course leader
Dr Julia Lajta-Novak

Dr Julia Lajta-Novak is a Hertha Firnberg Research Fellow at the Department of English and American Studies, University of Vienna. She has published a book entitled Live Poetry.

King's College London
Address: Strand, London
Postal code: WC2R 2LS
City: London
Country: United Kingdom
Website: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/summerschool
E-mail: summerschool@kcl.ac.uk
Phone: +44 20 7848 1533