ENH2470

Modern English literature: modernism and postmodernism

A Dilnot

8 points
* 2.5 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton and Peninsula

Objectives Students successfully completing this subject should have developed a recognition of what distinguishes modern and postmodern literature in English and a grounding in the nature of the cultural conditions in which modern English literature has been produced.

Synopsis This subject will attempt to identify some of the chief trends in modernism and postmodernism in literature in English in the twentieth century. The central figures of modernism will be studied within their cultural and historical context. From this base the subject will proceed to examine the preoccupations of two postmodern texts, Flaubert's parrot and Pale fire.

Assessment Seminar report (20 minutes; 1500 words): 20%
* Essay: (1500 words): 20%
* Essay (3000 words): 50%
* Seminar participation: 10%
* Students whose written work and participation in tutorials are unsatisfactory will be required to take an examination worth 50%

Prescribed texts

Adcock F The Faber book of twentieth-century women's poetry Faber
Barnes J Flaubert's parrot Picador
Conrad J Victory Penguin
Eliot T S Selected poems Faber
Harrington J P (ed.) Modern Irish drama Norton
Lawrence D H Sons and lovers Penguin
Levin H (ed.) A James Joyce reader Penguin
Nabokov V Pale fire Penguin
Woolf V To the lighthouse Penguin
Yeats W B Selected poetry Penguin