English 190

Book List

Buchan, John.: The Thirty-Nine Steps; Conrad, Joseph.: The Secret Agent; Fleming, Ian.: From Russia With Love; Hamid, Mohsin.: The Reluctant Fundamentalist; Kipling, Rudyard.: Kim; Le Carre, John.: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold; Ludlum, Robert.: The Bourne Identity; Nguyen, Viet: The Sympathizer; Quinn, Kate: The Alice Network; Wilkinson, Lauren.: American Spy

Other Readings and Media

Description

This course will survey a variety of spy novels, comparing their diverse modalities.  We will explore the genre’s origins in the conflicts between nations states and in values dictated by a traditional white masculinity, from the machismo of a James Bond to the critique of that trope by John Le Carre.  These traditional spies and the values they embody will be contrasted with the very different values and sensibilities exemplified by “feminist” and “diversity” spooks.  We will also occasionally compare some of the spy novels with their cinematic avatars.  In addition to exploring the nature and structures of the deep unconscious paranoia and nationalist antagonisms that drive all spy novels, the course will also compare the aesthetic characteristics of these novels: plot structures, narrative devices, point of view, prose styles, etc.

Texts will be selected from the above list.  The final list will be posted prior to the beginning of classes.