Course details

Name: ENLT - 571

Title: TRENDS IN THE CONTEMPORARY NOVEL

Section: 41

Semester: Summer - 2021

Credits: 3

Description:
In this course we will read complex, challenging and rewarding post-1990 novels written by American, British, and Anglophone authors. We will do so considering several influences on writers and readers: political and social concerns (the end of the Cold War; 9/11 and visibility of terrorism; the dominance of consumer culture around the world; rising inequality; literature’s shifting social significance) as well as aesthetic and intellectual ones (the popularity of genre hybridity; the advent of literary theory; the aftermath of postmodern fictional experimentation).

We will look at texts written by a diverse list of authors who engage with these concerns in compelling ways. We’ll look at novels categorized as alternative histories, networked narratives, post-postmodern texts and others in order to develop a familiarity with emerging literary critical frameworks; we will also learn how to consider these works in their political, social, and aesthetic contexts.

Interested students, please note that we will read about 250 pages of fiction and 20 pages of academic criticism most weeks; please realize the course will also be hybrid, with some in-person attendance expected.

Last updated on 2020-12-08 By Gonzalez Jeffrey (gonzalezje)

Schedule: Tuesday From 6:00 pm To 9:15 pm

Graduation requirements:

  • Any Literature (1e)
  • Genre Study (Fiction)
  • Post-1900 (1d)
  • International Issues (3a)
  • Ethnic Studies (3b)
  • Graduate (BA/MA)

Teaching Faculty: Gonzalez Jeffrey (gonzalezje)

Is course canceled: No