20th Century Literature in English: World War 1 to Cyberpunk and the Future

20^th Century Literature in English: World War 1 to Cyberpunk and the Future

Objectives

This class is intended as an introduction both to English-language literature of the 20th century, and also to the criticism of 20th-century lit—that is, to the ways that scholars have thought and talked about literary and cultural movements of the past hundred years.

We’ll be reading a wide selection of both canonical and slightly more off-beat works from the literatures of the U.K,, North America, and other regions of the world where English is commonly spoken. Along the way, we’ll be discussing some of the major sea changes of literary culture (and, by extension, of culture at large) over the last century: the language play and stylistic experimentations of Modernism; the intertextuality and parody of Postmodernism; the rise of writing by (and publication of) non-white, female, and/or lower-class authors; the development of postcolonial literature as a discernible field of study

Given the tremendous range of potential material involved, the reading list is obviously highly selective and subjectively chosen; it’s also, however, fairly long. You will be expected to read for this class—to read a lot, and to read it carefully.
Grades:

1. Assignment 1—a short précis on a piece of criticism/theory, 1000 words (20%)

2. Assignment 2—Class Blog—Writing/Reading Journals (20%) Details will follow

3. Assignment 3: —a comparative essay, referring to at least two module texts, that will examine aspects of the literary works which might be said to link them, 2000 words (30%)

4. Conference Proposal: A proposal for one of the academic conferences in our field, based on this course content and/or your essay (200-500 words). (10%)

5. Attendance/Participation (20%) pretty self-explanatory Miss more than 2 unexcused classes and you should drop.

Required Texts

The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction: Second Edition ISBN 0-393-96833-2. 1998.
The White Hotel: D. M. Thomas (1993)
God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy (1998)
A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess (1986)
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison(1970)
The Memoirs of a Survivor Doris Lessing(1995)
Snow Crash Neal Stephenson(2000)
Movies:
Hope and Glory (1987)
Fight Club (1999)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Bladerunner (1982)
Course Packet: Theory & Poetry.

Reading Schedule: texts are due read the day they are listed

Week One: Day One: Course introduction, policies, etc.
Day Two: The Twentieth Century: Theory, etc. Read Selections from The Norton Anthology of
     Contemporary Fiction
Week Two: Day Three: Early Twentieth Century: Selections from packet, fiction & theory:
Day Four: Selections from packet: Poetry:
Week Three: Day Five: WW1 & 2: Selections from Packet: Poetry & Fiction
Day Six:   Read Selections from The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction.
     Theory “Unclaimed Experience: Trauma and the Possibility of History.” Cathy Caruth. From
     Yale French Studies, No. 79, (1991), pp. 181-192.
Week Four: Watch Hope & Glory
      Theory: “Sex, Citizenship, and the Nation in World War II Britain” Sonya O. Rose. From
     The American Historical Review, 103:4 (1998), pp. 1147-1176.
Day Seven: The White Hotel
     Theory:“D. M. Thomas The White Brothel: The Literary Exoneration of the Pornographic”
     Susanne Kappeller Feminist Review 16 (1984), pp. 26-34.
Week Five: Day Eight Read Selections from The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction:
Day Nine: Read Selections from The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction
Week Six: Day Ten. God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy (date)
Day Nine: Course Packet “Theory & Poetry Sexuality in Extremity: Trauma Literature,
     Violence, and Counter-Erotics” M. L. Kohlke.
Week Seven: Read Selections from The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction
Day Eleven: Course packet poetry
Week Eight: A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess
Day Thirteen: watch film, A Clockwork Orange Course packet: Janet Staiger “The Cultural
     Productions of A Clockwork Orange” from Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange By Stuart
     Y. McDougal (2003).
Week Nine: The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
Day Fifteen: Read Selections from The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction
Week Ten: The Memoirs of a Survivor Doris Lessing
Day Seventeen: Course packet theory. Chilcoat, Michelle “Brain Sex, Cyberpunk Cinema,
     Feminism, and the Dis/Location of Heterosexuality” NWSA Journal 16:2(2004) 156-176.
Week Eleven: Snow Crash Neal Stephenson
Day Eighteen: Watch Bladerunner
Week Twelve watch Fight Club
Day Twenty: Read Selections from The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction