What is Setting?

Setting in Literary Texts

In this course, Dr Neil Cocks (University of Reading) teaches us about setting in literature. In the first module, we introduce the idea of setting in literature. In the second module, we move on to look at pathetic fallacy, atmosphere and time in relation to setting, with special reference to a passage from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899). In the third module, we consider character response to setting with reference to Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows (1908), before turning to setting character and theme in the fourth module focusing on a passage from Roger Deakin’s Waterlog (2000). In the fifth module we use Zadie Smith’s Lazy River (2017) to illustrate an ironic setting. In the sixth and final module, we return to The Wind in the Willows, to problematise the use of setting in literature.

What is Setting?

In this module, we introduce what we mean by setting, focusing in particular on (i) defining setting (ii) separating setting from other textual elements (iii) pathetic fallacy (iv) reading setting from the text (v) narration and setting.