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ENGL331
Postwar Novel in English
ENGL331 SP
Next Offered in 9899 SP
This course examines a selection of influential novels
written in the two decades following the end of the second
world war. Beginning with works from the late 40s by
writers with close ties to the experimental modernism of the
20s and the socially committed writing of the 30s, we will
focus on a number of transnational cultural phenomena
specific to the period, such as: the rejection or critical
transformation of earlier modernist and avant-gardist
techniques and values; the questioning of Eurocentric
cultural authority; the erosion of Empire and struggles over
decolonization; writers' loss of faith in established
political culture; the emergence of identity politics; the
rise of a youth "subculture." We will also look at how
these novels fit into, or cast doubt on, the
modernism/post-modernism dichotomy now current in many
interpretations of 20th-century literature as a whole.
MAJOR READINGS
Achebe, Chinua: THINGS FALL APART
Baldwin, James: GIOVANNI'S ROOM
Bowles, Paul: THE SHELTERING SKY
Beckett, Samuel: MOLLOY
Burroughs, William: NAKED LUNCH
Comyns, Barbara: THE SKIN CHAIRS
Ellison, Ralph: INVISIBLE MAN
Heller, Joseph: CATCH 22
Lessing, Doris: THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOKS
Nabokov: LOLITA
Ngugi, Wa Thiong'o: THE RIVER BETWEEN
Orwell, George: 1984
Rhys, Jean: WIDE SARGASSO SEA
Sillitoe, Alan: SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Three short papers, one longer
analyticfal or research paper, student led discussions.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
This course counts
toward the departments Historicity requirement.
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting
or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the
first class, they will be dropped from the class list.
NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form
to the Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Discussion Lecture
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA ENGL
Prerequisites:
None
Last Updated on MAR-10-1997
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