English 45C

Book List

Cole, T.: Open City; Conrad, J.: Heart of Darkness; Morrison, T.: Beloved; Nabokov, V.: Pnin; Pynchon, T.: The Crying of Lot 40; Wilde, O.: The Picture of Dorian Gray; Woolf, V.: To the Lighthouse

Description

This course will provide an overview of the aesthetic shifts captured by such terms as realism, modernism, and postmodernism, with an emphasis on the relation between literary form and historical context. We will explore how literature responds to the pressures of industrialization, war, and empire, as well as to an ever-growing awareness of a diverse, interconnected world. Attention will also be paid to the relation between literature and other forms of cultural expression, e.g., painting, music, and film.

Note: Since the reading list may change, please don’t buy books until after the first class.