English 668: Modern British Novel
    Spring 1998
    MWF 12:30-1:20
    4023 Wescoe
    Prof. Kathryn Conrad
     kconrad@eagle.cc.ukans.edu
    Office hours:  MWF 3:30-4:30
    Office:  2035 Wescoe

    Description

    Many Modernist novelists broke away from traditional linear narrative form; others chose to adapt it to their own ends, often to represent an individual subject struggling against oppressive ideological systems. In this course, we will read a number of Modernist novels as well as some more contemporary (post-WWII) novels written by those who have worked with and challenged the Modernist tradition. Our particular focus will be the relationship between narrative, subjectivity, and authority. Among the questions we will consider are the following: how do these writers negotiate their own authority while presenting challenges to accepted cultural and literary narratives? What is the relationship between narrative coherence and the coherence of the subject? How can narrative be put to the service of feminist, queer, postcolonial projects?

    Online Resources

    20th-century British and Irish Literature links (Jack Lynch, U Penn)
    Theory links (Jack Lynch, U Penn)
    Hypertext sources (Jack Lynch, U Penn)

    Requirements

    Students will be expected to deliver one substantial presentation, participate in class and possibly listserver discussion, and write one critical paper of 20-25 pp. (10 pp. paper plus a take-home final for undergraduates).

    Texts

    Note changes.

    Conrad, The Secret Sharer
    Forster, Maurice
    Joyce, Ulysses        (and recommended to accompany Ulysses: Blamires, The New Bloomsday Book)
    Lessing, The Golden Notebook
    Loy, Insel
    Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea
    Rushdie, Midnight's Children
    Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

    Supplemental critical readings will be assigned and made available periodically.

    Syllabus

    This syllabus is likely to change as we discover our pace.  Students should check the online syllabus periodically for updated information.

    JANUARY
    M12    Introduction
    W14    Conrad, The Secret Sharer
    F16      Conrad

    M19     MLK DAY
    W 21    Forster, Maurice
    F23       no class

    M26     Forster
    W28     Forster
    F30       Forster

    FEBRUARY
    M2      Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
    W4      Woolf
    F6        Woolf

    M9      Joyce, Ulysses
    W11    Joyce
    F13      Joyce

    M16    Joyce
    W18    Joyce
    F20      Joyce

    M23    Joyce
    W25    Joyce
    F27      Joyce

    MARCH
    M2      Joyce
    W4      Joyce
    F6        Joyce

    M9      Joyce
    W11   Joyce
    F13     Joyce

    M16    Loy, Insel
    W18    Loy
    F20      Loy

    SPRING BREAK

    M30   Lessing
    APRIL
    W1    Lessing
    F3      Lessing

    M6     Lessing
    W8     Lessing
    F10     Lessing

    M13   Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea
    W15   no class; work on prospectus for final essay
    F17     no class; work on prospectus for final essay

    M20   Rhys; prospectus for final essay due
    W22   Rushdie
    F24     Rushdie

    M27    Rushdie
    W29   Rushdie
    MAY
    F1       Rushdie

    M4      Last day of classes; final essay due (undergraduates); take-home exam distributed
    F8        Final exam due by 3 pm (undergraduates); final essay due by 3 pm  (graduate students)