Through a range of 20th century works, this course will examine literary modernism and postmodern trends in the novel focusing on the uneasy relation between the two.
Prerequisite(s)
None
Corequisite(s)
None
Special Requisite(s)
None
Instructor(s)
Assoc. Prof. Gillian Alban
Course Assistant(s)
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Schedule
Monday 16.00-19.00
Office Hour(s)
Monday 15.00
Teaching Methods and Techniques
Lectures and discussions
Principle Sources
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 'The Dead'
Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own & Mrs Dalloway
Angela Carter, The Sadeian Woman & The Passion of New Eve
Toni Morrison, Playing in the Dark & Beloved Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake
Other Sources
M. Bakhtin, Discourse in the Novel
J. Derrida, 'Structure, Sign and Play'
J. Lacan, 'The Mirror Stage'
Gilbert and Gubar, The Madwoman in the Attic
A. Kolodny, 'Dancing through the Minefield'
H. Cixous, 'Sorties', 'The Laugh of the Medusa'
Bakhtin, from ‘Discourse in the Novel,’ Conrad, Heart of Darkness; Said, from Culture and Imperialism
Lectures, Presentations and discussions
3. Week
Joyce, Portrait of the Artist and “The Dead;” Eliot, The Waste Land; Derrida, ‘Structure, Sign and Play'
Lectures, Presentations and discussions
4. Week
Lacan, ‘The Mirror Stage' Woolf, A Room of One’s Own; “Professions for Women;” Mrs Dalloway, Feminism
Lectures, Presentations and discussions
5. Week
Feminism: De Beauvoir; Showalter, ‘Feminist Poetics.’ Gilbert & Gubar, ‘Madwoman in Attic,’ Kolodny, ‘Dancing thro’ Minefield,’ Cixous, ‘Sorties’ and “The Laugh of the Medusa,” Woolf, Mrs Dalloway
Lectures, Presentations and discussions
6. Week
Butler, from ‘Bodies that Matter,’ Irigaray, from ‘Sexual Difference,’ Kristeva, ‘Who is Medusa?’ Carter, The Passion of New Eve
Lectures, Presentations and discussions
7. Week
Carter, The Sadeian Woman, chs. 1,3,5; Alban, Medusa Gaze; Carter, The Passion of New Eve
Lectures, Presentations and discussions
8. Week
Postcolonialism: bell hooks, ‘Postmodern Blackness,’ Bhabha, ‘Of Mimicry and Man,’ Spivak, from Post-Colonial Critic; Morrison, Beloved
Lectures, Presentations and discussions
9. Week
Morrison, Playing in the Dark (chs. 2 & 3) and Beloved
Lectures, Presentations and discussions
10. Week
Midterm Exam on fiction and theory
Lectures, Presentations and discussions
11. Week
The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje
Lectures, Presentations and discussions
12. Week
Postmodern Dystopias: Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
Lectures, Presentations and discussions
13. Week
Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood
Lectures, Presentations and discussions
14. Week
Work on revising Seminar paper
Lectures, Presentations and discussions
15. Week
Study Week
16. Week
Study Week
17. Week
Final Paper due
Assessments
Evaluation tools
Quantity
Weight(%)
Homework / Term Projects / Presentations
4
40
Attendance
90
0
Research papers
2
60
Program Outcomes
PO-1
Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of literary texts, authors, genres and movements.
PO-2
Display a thorough understanding of literary research methodology and different critical approaches to literature.
PO-3
Analyze texts from different theoretical perspectives.
PO-4
Develop a critical understanding of literature.
PO-5
Know how to conduct independent research in English studies.
PO-6
Articulate and share interpretation of texts and contexts in carefully constructed
arguments.
PO-7
Apply precise critical terminology in the presentation of analysis and research.
PO-8
Engage in scholarly debates about their academic subjects.
PO-9
Critically examine and use the latest research materials in their academic discipline.
PO-10
Identify the ways both explicit and implicit cultural norms and assumptions affect perceptions and judgements.
PO-11
Recognize the interdisciplinary aspects of English Studies and its complex relationship with other disciplines and forms of knowledge.
PO-12
Develop a capacity to pursue academic studies at the doctoral level.
Learning Outcomes
LO-1
Recognize the difference between modernity and modernism as well as postmodernity and postmodernism
LO-2
Understand the relationship between modernist and postmodernist fiction and account for the varieties of fiction written in the twentieth century
LO-3
Apply the obtained knowledge in their reading and analyses of a range of modern and postmodern texts
LO-4
show competence in finding, critically examining and using relevent and up-to-date research materials
LO-5
Show an awareness of the role of language in creation of meaning
LO-6
Relate their prior knowledge about literary theory to the themes and ideas employed in modern and postmodern texts
