English 190

Book List

Beckett, Samuel: How It Is; Deane, Seamus: Reading in the Dark; Greene, Graham: The End of the Affair; Hollinghurst, Alan: The Swimming-Pool Library; Ishiguro, Kazuo: Remains of the Day; Johnson, B.S.: Christie Malry's Own Double Entry; Murdoch, Iris: Under the Net; Rowling, J.K.: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; Rushdie, Salman: Midnight's Children; Selvon, Samuel: The Lonely Londoners; Smith, Ali: Autumn; Spark, Muriel: The Driver's Seat

Description

This research seminar will survey the British novel (broadly construed) since 1945. Topics of discussion will likely include: realism and alternatives to realism; formal experimentation and novel psychology; race, immigration, and empire; feminism; Angry Young people; class, Thatcherism, and New Labour; the decriminalization of homosexuality and the legacy of AIDS; the Troubles and Northern Ireland; the legacies of WWI and WWII; nationalism, the EU, and Brexit. Authors will likely include: Graham Greene, Samuel Beckett, Iris Murdoch, Samuel Selvon, Muriel Spark, B.S. Johnson, Salman Rushdie, Seamus Deane, Kazuo Ishiguro, Alan Hollinghurst, Ali Smith, and J.K. Rowling. 

Evaluation will be based on a short critical paper (5pp), a research paper (12-15pp), a presentation, and participation. Readings will be available for purchase through the University bookstore and Metro Publishing (2440 Bancroft).