COURSE DESCRIPTIONWhat makes a scandal? In this course we examine a number of sensational case studies and discover the mingled horror and enjoyment with which they have been told, received and retold. After examining the anatomy of a village scandal we investigate seduction, reputation and class in eighteenth century Europe and America. We then weave through the increasingly strait-laced nineteenth century, in which scandals abounded across the modernising imperial world, destroying reputations, rulers and families. It was not just behaviour itself, but also ever-changing interpretations of behaviour and new media for communicating scandal that fuelled indignant condemnation. Examining occasions when social rules were flouted allows us to consider the ways in which such rules were themselves constituted, maintained and challenged. Examining the fate of those who may be seen as either victim or guilty perpetrator of scandal allows us to consider the changing nature of retribution by or against those in power. COURSE COORDINATORS:Assoc. Prof. Penny Russell: Dr. Frances Clarke: To Download a pdf copy of the syllabus, click here.
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