ENG 320 Study in Literary Modes
British Modernism
In this course we will explore the production of British fiction from the turn of the 20th century to World War II. Our attention will focus on the relationship between the disintegration of traditional moral, social, and intellectual values and the development of new literary forms. We will read and discuss works that illustrate a variety of cultural concerns, paying particular attention to those texts which use experimental, audience challenging, and language-focused narrative strategies to foreground the relationship of individuals to economic, political, and cultural forces. We will explore various traditions and innovations in literature as they reflect and incorporate shifting attitudes toward love, marriage, family, social institutions, nature, technology, and war. The metaphor of voyage, of travel to the unknown—whether to a physical, a social, or a psychological wilderness—will provide a unifying point of reference for our discussions of the texts by Conrad, Forster, Joyce, Lawrence, Mansfield, Rhys, and Woolf. This course is offered in the spring semester.
Credits: 1
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