séquence 1 -Introduction to Literature in English Economics

Lesson 1: Overview of Economic Themes in Literature

1. Introduction

This lesson offers an introductory exploration of the diverse economic themes presented in
English literature. It examines how various literary works articulate economic concepts, class structures,
and the socio-economic dynamics within different societies.

2. Economic Themes in Literature

Economic Themes in Literature extends to exploring how economic factors drive individual
ambitions, societal changes, and moral dilemmas. Literature often mirrors the economic realities of its
time, depicting how wealth or poverty can shape personal identities and societal structures (Shell,
1993). Additionally, it scrutinizes the impact of capitalism, consumerism, and industrialization on
human lives and environments (Fine & Leopold, 1990).This exploration helps readers understand how
economic ideologies and practices are deeply intertwined with cultural and ethical values, making
literature a reflective medium for economic discourse and critique.

Text A: Economics and Literature by Akdere and Baron

Read the Text Carefully and Try to Understand the Words in Bold:
Since the Middle Ages, literature has portrayed the economic world in poetry, drama, stories and
novels. The complexity of human realities highlights crucial aspects of the economy. The nexus linking
characters to their economic environment is central in a new genre, the "economic novel", that puts forth
economic choices and events to narrate social behavior, individual desires, and even non-economic
decisions. For many authors, literary narration also offers a means to express critical viewpoints about
economic development, for example in regards to its ecological or social ramifications.
Conflicts of economic interest have social, political and moral causes and consequences. This book
shows how economic and literary texts deal with similar subjects, and explores the ways in which
economic ideas and metaphors shape literary texts, focusing on the analogies between economic
theories and narrative structure in literature and drama. This volume also suggests that connecting
literature and economics can help us find a common language to voice new, critical perspectives on
crises and social change.

Source: Akdere, Ҫ., & Baron, C. (Eds.). (2017). Economics and Literature: A Comparative and Interdisciplinary
Approach (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315231617

Text: B Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

A. Reading Comprehension.

Read the Excerpt from Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations Carefully and Do the Activites.

The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour, and the greater part of the skill,
dexterity, and judgment with which it is anywhere directed, or applied, seem to have been the effects
of the division of labour. The effects of the division of labour, in the general business of society, will
be more easily understood, by considering in what manner it op erates in some particular manufactures.
It is commonly supposed to be carried furthest in some very trifling ones; not perhaps that it really
iscarried further in them than in others of more importance: but in those trifling manufactures which
are destined to supply the small wants of but a small number of people, the whole number of workmen
must necessarily be small; and those employed in every different branch of the work can often be
collected into the same workhouse, and placed at once under theview of the spectator. In those great
manufactures, on the contrary, which are destined to supply the great wants of the great body of the
people, every different branch of the work employs so great a number of workmen that it is impossible
to collect them all into the same workhouse. We can seldom see more, at one time, than those employed
in one single branch. Though in such manufactures, therefore, the work may really be divided into a
much greater number of parts than in those of a more trifling nature, the division is not near so obvious,
and has accordingly been much less observed.

Source: Smith, A. (1776). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. ΜεταLibri.
http://metalibri.incubadora.fapesp.br/

Lesson 2: The Role of Economics in Literary Settings.

A. Reading Comporehension

-Read each of the Follwing Texts Carefully and Do the Activities.

Text A. Hard Times by Charles Dickens

It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed
themselves for ever and ever, and never got uncoiled. It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran
purple with ill-smelling dye, and vast piles of building full of windows where there was a rattling and
a trembling all day long, and where the piston of the steam-engine worked monotonously up and down,
like the head of an elephant in a state of melancholy madness.

Source: Dickens, C. (1854). Hard Times.waypdf. http//: waypdf.com/Hard-Times-/

Text B: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

‘There would be meat that had tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers had
tramped and spit uncounted billions of consumption germs. There would be meat stored in great piles
in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands of rats would race about on
it’.

Source: Sinclair, U. (1906). The Jungle. Retrieved from Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/140

Text C: Animal farm by George Arwell

‘It was just after the sheep had returned, on a pleasant evening when the animals had finished work and
were making their way back to the farm buildings, that the terrified neighing of a horse sounded from
the yard. Startled, the animals stopped in their tracks. It was Clover’s voice. She neighed again, and all
the animals broke into a gallop and rushed into the yard. Then they saw what Clover had seen. It was a
pig walking on his hind legs’.

Source: Orwell, G. (1945). Animal Farm. Retrieved from Global Grey ebooks:
https://www.globalgreyebooks.com/animal-farm-ebook.html

Text D : Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin

"Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a
fine thing for our girls!”.

Source: Austen, J. (1813). Pride and Prejudice. Project Gutenberg:

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1342/1342-h/1342-h.htm

Group Discussion on Economic Themes in Literature

task: Divide into small groups. Each group will discuss one of the texts (Text A, B, C, or D) and explore
the following:

1. Identify the Economic Factors: What specific economic elements (like industrialization, class
disparity, labor conditions, wealth and marriage) are highlighted in your text?

2. Impact on Characters and Plot: How do these economic factors affect the characters' decisions,
relationships, and the overall plot?

3. Comparison with Modern Times: Do you see any parallels between the economic themes in the text
and current economic issues?
 2 Economic Theories in Literature

Lesson 01 : Modern Literature and Market Dynamics

1. Introduction

Modern Literature and Market Dynamics examines the blend of economic concepts and
modern literary works (Woodmansee & Osteen, 2005). This lesson highlights how
contemporary authors weave market dynamics into their stories, reflecting societal and
cultural changes. It offers insight into the role of economics in shaping narrative and character
development in modern literature.

2. Modern Literature

This term refers to literary works written in the late 19th and 20th centuries. It is
characterized by a break from traditional writing styles, experimenting with narrative
techniques and forms, and often focusing on the inner self and consciousness (Saunders,
2010).

3. Market Dynamics

Market dynamics are the forces that impact prices and the behaviors of producers and
consumers in a market (Campbell & Cochrane 1999). These forces include demand and
supply, economic conditions, technological changes, and government policies, which
collectively shape market trends and patterns (Dosi & Nelson, 2010).

A. Comprehension

Read the text below

Text A : The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

I was on my way to get roaring drunk from sheer embarrassment when Jordan Baker
came out of the house and stood at the head of the marble steps, leaning a little backward and
looking with contemptuous interest down into the garden.

Welcome or not, I found it necessary to attach myself to some one before I should begin to
address cordial remarks to the passers-by.
“Hello!” I roared, advancing toward her. My voice seemed unnaturally loud across
the garden.
“I thought you might be here,” she responded absently as I came up. “I remembered
you lived next door to——” She held my hand impersonally, as a promise that she’d take care
of me in a minute,and gave ear to two girls in twin yellow dresses, who stopped at the foot of
the steps.
“Hello!” they cried together. “Sorry you didn’t win.”
That was for the golf tournament. She had lost in the finals the week before.
“You don’t know who we are,” said one of the girls in yellow, “but we met you here
about a month ago.”
“You’ve dyed your hair since then,” remarked Jordan, and I started, but the girls had
moved casually on and her remark was addressed to the premature moon, produced like the
supper, no doubt, out of a caterer’s basket. With Jordan’s slender golden arm resting in mine,
we descended the steps and sauntered about the garden. A tray of cocktails floated at us
through the twilight, and we sat down at a table with the two girls in yellow and three men,
each one introduced to us as Mr. Mumble.
“Do you come to these parties often?” inquired Jordan of the girl beside her.
“The last one was the one I met you at,” answered the girl, in an alert confident voice.
She turned to her companion: “Wasn’t it for you, Lucille?” It was for Lucille, too.
“I like to come,” Lucille said. “I never care what I do, so I always have a good time.
When I was here last I tore my gown on a chair, and he asked me my name and address—
inside of a week I got a package from Croirier’s with a new evening gown in it.”
“Did you keep it?” asked Jordan.

The source : Fitzgerald, F. S. (1925). The Great Gatsby. Retrieved from Project Gutenberg:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/64317/64317-h/64317-h.htm
lesson 2 : Classic Literature and Economic Theories

1. Introduction

This lesson highlights the intersection between the literary narratives of classic
literature and the fundamental principles of economic theories from wealth distribution to
market dynamics. This exploration focuses on the context of economic ideologies, revealing
the profound influence of economics on societal norms and personal values depicted in
literature. So, we aim to deepen your understanding of both disciplines, highlighting the
power of literature as a lens to view economic principles and their impact on human behavior.

2. Classic Literature: A Brief Definition

Classic literature refers to works of literature that acclaimed for their artistic merit,
universal themes, and profound insights into the human condition (Bennett & Royle
2023). These works are often recognized for their significant influence on the culture and
literature that followed. As M.H. Abrams notes in A Glossary of Literary Terms, classic
literature includes "works that are widely recognized as having outstanding or enduring
qualities" (Abrams, 1999). These texts span across centuries, from ancient epics like Homer's
The Odyssey to more modern classics like F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

3. Economic Theories (Major Trends)

Economic theories are frameworks for analyzing how resources are distributed and
utilized, encompassing a range of principles about how economies operate (Dopfer & Potts,
2007). As outlined by N. Gregory Mankiw in Principles of Economics, major trends in
economic theory include classical economics, which focuses on free markets and the role of
government intervention; Keynesian economics, emphasizing demand-side solutions to
economic downturns; and modern trends like behavioral economics, which integrates
psychological insights into economic decision-making (Mankiw, 2020). Each of these
theories offers distinct perspectives on resource allocation, market dynamics, and economic
policies.

Read the text and do the activity.

Text A : Middlemarch by George Eliot

He had been left an orphan when he was fresh from a public school. His father, a military
man, had made but little provision for three children, and when the boy Tertius asked to have
a medical education, it seemed easier to his guardians to grant his request by apprenticing him
to a country practitioner than to make any objections on the score of family dignity. He was
one of the rarer lads who early get a decided bent and make up their minds that there is
something particular in life which they would like to do for its own sake, and not because
their fathers did it.
Source: Eliot, G. (1994). Middlemarch. Retrieved from Project Gutenberg:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/145