Skip to main content
Department of English
Search
Log in
Navigation
About
Current Office Hours
Diversity Resources
English Library
Faculty Statement Archives
Internal Dept Resources
Medieval and Early Modern Studies
University Writing Program
Video Guides & Worksheets
Visit us on Facebook
Major/Minor in English
Advising
Creative Writing Application
Honors Program
Internships
Literary Magazines
Major Requirements Guide & FAQ
Minor Requirements
Study Abroad
Why Major in English?
MFA in Creative Writing
Admissions
Events, Prizes, and Resources
MFA Program Faculty
Newly Admitted Grad Students
Resources
Ph.D. in Literature
About
Admissions
Newly Admitted Grad Students
PhD Alumni Directory
Resources
Courses & Schedules
People
News & Events
Off the Syllabus Podcast
Recent News
Contests
Contest Winners
Previous Contest Winners
Newsletters
You are here
Home
»
Courses & Schedules
English 138 - Winter, 2016
British Literature 1945-present
Class Information
Instructor:
Marx, John
CRN:
43592
Time:
MWF 11:00-11:50
Location:
146 Olson
Description
This course welcomes majors and non-majors. It fulfills the following General Education Requirements: Arts & Humanities, World Cultures, & Writing Experience.
This course fulfills the "one course focusing on literature written in English between 1900 and the present" portion of the English Major Historical Distribution requirement.
This course is about British fiction in the context of globalization. It is a contemporary literature class focusing on books published from 1988 to 2015. It is not a coverage course, but rather a class that asks what the British novel looks like now, why anyone gets exercised about literary writing produced in this small place that used to have a global empire, and how that past when England used to be geopolitically more important colors a moment when it is overshadowed by Europe, the US, and China. Part of the answer will come from observing how those other places and their peoples figure prominently: we'll encounter Chinese rockers in exile in the UK and Black Britons living in Boston. We'll also find it hard to ignore older forms of writing, reminders of things you've read in other English courses. Not surprisingly, contemporary British writing is multiracial and filled with reminders of the past.
Grading
- two papers (25% each)
- midterm essay exam (10%)
- final exam (20%)
- class participation (20%)
Texts
The Icarus Girl (2005)
, Helen Oyeyemi
On Beauty (2005)
, Zadie Smith
Ghostwritten (1999)
, David Mitchell
The Swimming Pool Library (1988)
, Alan Hollinghurst
I Am China (2014)
, Xiaolu Guo
Odysseus Abroad (2014)
, Amit Chaudhuri