Literary Lovers

About this Taster Session

Mary Shelley was the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, one of literary history’s most important female writers; she was married to the Romantic poet P.B.Shelley and, of course, author of Frankenstein: a novel which, in its exploration of creation, monstrosity and what it means to “be human”, is continuously in step with the “modern” age. This workshop explores the significance of literary relations to our understanding of past and present-day culture. How do the sometimes scandalized lives of literary lovers inform their work? And how does a novel such as Frankenstein – in its allusion to other texts and the creature’s desire to read – explore the significance of stories passed from one generation to the next? As we trace the impact of Victor Frankenstein’s ambition and his creature’s progress, we might also ask - How does reading shape “human” experience and foster ambition? And are books endangered by the evolution of an artificial intelligence? This session provides a useful introduction to intertextuality and, by way of Shelley’s extraordinary novel, kick-starts a conversation about our own relationship to literature, and advances in AI.

Key topics covered

• Shelley
• Wollstonecraft
• Frankenstein
• AI

How do I book?

If you would like to book a session, please email SCL@hull.ac.uk

Also available for pre-16 students

This session can also be adapted for pre-16 students