English 246K

Book List

Conrad, Joseph: Secret Agent; DuBois, W.E.B.: Souls of Black Folk; H. D.: Asphodel; Larsen, Nella: Quicksand; Lawrence, D.H.: Women in Love; Lewis, Wyndham: Tarr; Wells, H.G.: Modern Utopia; Woolf, Virginia: To the Lighthouse

Other Readings and Media

Secondary readings by Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Frederic Jameson, and Ewa Ziarek

Description

In this seminar, we will read a wide range of British and American novels from the first half of the twentieth century focusing on the intersections between modernism and theories of modernity. While we will pay considerable attention to modernism's diverse modes of formal experimentation, we will also closely examine various works of social theory—some drawn from the early twentieth century, and others drawn from recent works of criticism. The course readings will address a range of topics such as the aesthetics of internationalism and fascist reaction; empire, nationalism, and colonial resistance; race and theories of diaspora; vitalism, irrationalism, and techno-modernism.