English 45C

Book List

Achebe, Chinua: Things Fall Apart; Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness; Faulkner, William: The Sound and the Fury; Hamid, Mohsin: The Reluctant Fundamentalist; Larson, Nella: Passing; Pynchon, Thomas: The Crying of Lot 49; Woolf, Virginia: Mrs. Dalloway

Other Readings and Media

Please note that the readings for the course have not yet been finalized. Please do not purchase books before attending the first class.

A selection of short fiction, poetry, and critical essays will also be available online in PDF form and for purchase as a photocopied packet. 

Description

In this course, we will read and discuss a broad range of British and American literary writing spanning well over a century, with a primary focus on early twentieth-century modernist fiction and poetry. Topics for discussion will include the role of high art in an era of mass culture; the influence of literary tradition and the meanings of formal innovation; the implications of expatriatism and multiculturalism for national identity; and the politics of canon formation, that is, which authors and literary texts are regularly read, how they are read, and by whom.

Written work for the course will consist of three 5- to 6- page essays; frequent informal written responses in lecture; and a final exam. Regular attendance at lecture and vigorous participation in section are also required.