English 134

Book List

Burns, Anna: Milkman; Cusk, Rachel: Kudos; Evaristo, Bernadine: Girl, Woman, Other; Hollinghurst, Alan: The Line of Beauty; Ishiguro, Kazuo: The Remains of the Day; Rushdie, Salman: Haroun and the Sea of Stories; Sebald, WG: Rings of Saturn; Smith, Zadie: White Teeth

Other Readings and Media

Dung Kai-Cheung's Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City is available electronically through the University Library. 

Description

This course will examine British novels and films from the past thirty years--from roughly 1990 through the present. Topics of discussion will include: the legacies of empire, World War II, Thatcherism, and New Labor; the erosion of the welfare state; British nationalism, multiculturalism, and immigration; feminism and LGBTQIA+ politics and aesthetics; Northern Ireland and Troubles; the Handover/Return of Hong Kong; the decline of British manufacturing; psychogeography; the literary marketplace; the EU, Euroscepticism, and Brexit. Evaluation will be based on a combination of papers, exams, and course participation.

Novels will include: Anna Burns, Milkman; Rachel Cusk, Kudos; Bernadine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other; Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty; Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day; Dung Kai-Cheung, Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City; Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories; WG Sebald, Rings of Saturn; and Zadie Smith, White Teeth.

Films will likely include: Stephen Frears, My Beautiful Laundrette; Richard Loncraine, Richard III; Wong Kar-Wai, In the Mood for Love; Derek Jarman, Edward II and Blue; Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot; Patrick Keiller, Robinson in Space; Alfonso Cuarón, Children of Men. Additional films TBA.