Fall 2002

Graduate
ENG 3628, Contemporary British Novel (Thursdays, 6-8)

Undergraduate
ENG 1690, Junior/Senior Seminar: Contemporary British Novel (MWTh)

We will read a selection of novels published within the past fifteen years by writers living in Great Britain and by writers who live in the former colonies of Britain. My phrasing is intended to draw attention to literal location and geography, for in order to read the contemporary "British" novel, we must examine what it means to be British as opposed to other sorts of identities, performances, and essences. Our focus is twofold: the particular cultural context which produced these novels-a context constructed by gender, race, and, especially, class; and the literary-critical understanding of these novels as examples of the "modern," the "postmodern," and the "postcolonial." We will also take up how reading for pleasure (ludic reading) and reading for the academy (i.e., for the classroom and for formal study and publication) intersect, cross, and enrich each other. A handful of possible authors: A.S. Byatt, Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, Pat Barker, John Banville, Keri Hulme, Michael Ondaatje, Salman Rushdie, Graham Swift. Graduate requirements: one paper of 15-20 pages, brief written responses to most of the novels, one individual oral presentation on secondary criticism/reviews, one collaborative presentation. Undergraduate requirements: two papers of 5-7 pages each and brief written responses to most of the novels.

Winter 2003

Undergraduate
ENG 1631, Topics in Medieval Literature: Arthurian Legends (MWTh)

The legend of Arthur continues to be one of the most compelling tales in Western literature. Even if one has never read an original Arthurian romance or chronicle, one may know the story of Arthur, Lancelot, and the Round Table from movies, TV, children's books, novels, and comic books-or, perhaps, through sheer cultural osmosis. We will read the major Arthurian texts of the Middle Ages, survey the question of Arthur's historicity, and indulge in the pleasures of the medieval vernacular romance as we examine the cultural construction of romantic love-as a recognizable emotional state or condition, as a medical and legal issue, and as a process that shaped social, economic, and political relations through marriage. In addition, we'll explore the form and function of the various retellings of the legend of Arthur in the Middle Ages (as in the remarkable 13th-century French Roman de Silence, about a young girl raised as a boy) and beyond, in the works of selected 19th- and 20th-century writers, painters, filmmakers, and musicians. Requirements: one oral report on an Arthurian film, two short papers of 5-7 pages each.

 

ENG 1602, Major Figure: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis (MWTh)

Tolkien and Lewis were friends, colleagues, and sometimes rivals. Both were distinguished scholars of medieval and early modern literature, both chose fantasy as their primary genre, and both left an indelible mark on every author who attempted to write fantasy and science fiction after them. We will read Tolkien's The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia (seven books written for children; short, easy reads), as well as one novel of Lewis' science fiction trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength). As we go, we will consider what constitutes the genres of fantasy and science fiction; the literary influences on both writers (for example, Norse sagas and Anglo-Saxon poetry for Tolkien, medieval travel literature, Milton, and 19th-century fantasy and fairy tales for Lewis); Tolkien's and Lewis' scholarly work, and how it intersects with their fantasy and science fiction; and, finally, their biographies, with emphasis on how the two writers influenced each other. We will also consider how it is that Tolkien (especially) and Lewis have earned a place in the mainstream literary canon and in popular culture, and what it means to study books that so many of us have read for pleasure and on our own for so many years. Requirements: contributions to a group annotated bibliography (web and print), two short papers of 5-7 pages each.