HS3SLM: Landscapes of the Mind: Romanticism and the Rural Idyll, c.1750-1939

Module code: HS3SLM

Module provider: History; School of Humanities

Credits: 40

Level: 6

When you’ll be taught: Semester 1 / 2

Module convenor: Dr Jeremy Burchardt , email: j.burchardt@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: No placement specified

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 3 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

Special Subject modules provide 'hands-on' experience of the historian's task through the close examination and evaluation of primary sources and the light they shed on issues and problems.

This particular module studies a wide range of cultural media (including art, literature and music) in relation to Romanticism and the place of the countryside in English culture in the period.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Undertake detailed textual analysis and comment on the primary materials;
2. Recognise and interpret a wide range of different primary materials; and
3. Demonstrate a detailed command of varying historical interpretations of the primary materials and subject as a whole.

Module content

This module looks at the central role the countryside has played in English culture since the eighteenth century, focusing particularly on Romanticism and its influence. The cultural centrality of the countryside is paradoxical since during this period rural England has become economically, socially and political marginal. Part of the explanation is that, as Raymond Williams influentially showed in his classic study The Country and the City (1973), representations of the countryside are not only a response to the countryside itself but also act as a mirror to powerful changes affecting society as a whole, in particular urbanisation, industrialisation and the rise of capitalism. The concept of 'the countryside' was a creation of the modern period, and we will look at the significance of the English landscape garden in establishing a distinction between land as a productive resource and landscape as an aesthetic amenity. Perhaps even more important was the transformation accomplished by literary romanticism in the 1790s and early 1800s: by infusing landscape with spiritual meaning, the romantic poets created a way of responding to the countryside which in many respects continues to inform perceptions of rural England to this day. Amongst other themes we will consider are the rise of the regional novel in the nineteenth century, the evolution of English landscape painting and the ruralist tradition in English music, notably through the folk revival and the classical composers such as Vaughan Williams and Finzi who were influenced by it. 

This module involves a study of the rich variety of ways in which creative artists have deployed the countryside in their work by looking at a broad spectrum of art forms including literature, painting, landscape gardening and music. Students will be given an unusual opportunity to experience and assess first-hand a very wide range of cultural media in relation to a single overarching theme.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

• The teaching for this module involves weekly two-hour discussion seminars;
• Students will gain ‘hands-on’ experience of the historian’s task through the detailed evaluations of key texts, objects, and images, and the light they shed on the issues and problems being investigated;
• Students will be required to prepare for seminars through reading from both the primary sources and the secondary literature;
• Students are expected to carry out self-directed revision in the summer semester. Staff will be available for consultation as necessary.

Study hours

At least 44 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Formative work, for instance essay plans, seminar presentations, book reviews, posters, practice source commentaries, will be required for this Special Subject over the two semesters. Practice commentaries on the sources will be required for formative assessment.

Reassessment

Additional costs