English 125E

The Contemporary Novel

Section	Semester	Instructor	Time	Location	Course Areas
1	Spring 2017	Snyder, Katherine	MW 1-2 + discussion sections F 1-2	141 McCone	Novel

Book List

Adiche, Chimamanda: Americanah; Cole, Teju: Open City; Díaz, Junot: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao; Egan, Jennifer: A Visit From the Goon Squad; Hamid, Mohsin: The Reluctant Fundamentalist; Lerner, Ben: 10:04: A Novel; McCarthy, Cormac: The Road; McCarthy, Tom: Remainder; McEwan, Ian: Saturday; Mieville, China: The City & The City; O'Neill, Joseph: Netherland; Whitehead, Colson: Zone One

Description

In this class, we will read a selection of 21st-century novels written in English, as well as some book reviews, interviews, and critical essays. We will consider the formal and thematic elements of these contemporary fictions, as well as a variety of contextual concerns including questions of scale (long form, short form, and super-short forms such as Twitter and flash fiction) and genre (especially the burgeoning of literary genre fiction such as post-apocalyptic and noir); digital publishing in various formats; competing popular media; book prizes and the circulation of cultural value; world literature and the global market; and the rise of the Creative Writing program in the university. Throughout the course, we will think about whether the contemporary can best be understood as a discrete historical moment, an ever-receding temporal horizon, or as a cultural worldview, condition, or style. You will write analytical essays of the sort usually required in English courses, while also producing responses to our readings in alternative genres such as book reviews, creative nonfiction, and visual, aural, and/or digital media.

While the reading for this course will be considerable (200-300 pages per week), it will NOT include all twelve of the novels listed above! Please attend the day of class before purchasing books for the course.

Discussion Sections

101	No instructor assigned yet.	F 1-2	230 Mulford
102	Muhammad, Ismail	F 1-2	3113 Etcheverry
103	Choi, Jeehyun	F 1-2	229 Dwinelle

Other Recent Sections of This Course

spring, 2022
125E/1	The Contemporary Novel: Screens, Pages, and Visual Rhetoric in Contemporary Fiction	Catchings, Alex

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