The 21st Century Novel
WRCT 309
Fall 2023 not offered
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This course is designed to introduce you to some great works of contemporary fiction. The reading list is not meant to be comprehensive, nor do I claim that these are the very best of all the contemporary novels in the world, but the course should provide an orienting overview of various contemporary styles and themes, as well as, ideally, give you one or two new favorite books. We will experiment with organizing our study by time rather than nation or language (Does the category of "the 2010s novel" make as much or more sense than, say, "the American novel" or "the Francophone novel"?)--the reading list includes work from eight countries, half in translation. In exploring what if anything makes the 21st Century novel different, I don't have a particular theoretical perspective in mind, but if you are interested in one you can bring it up in discussion and apply it in your final paper.
We will neither ignore nor treat as an unfortunate if indispensable crutch the fact that four of our books will be read in translation. No one can read all books in their respective original languages; translation is how we experience international literature--we always read books from language contexts outside our own with a double focus, as texts produced by a doubled authorship. This dynamic is worthy of attention and appreciation in its own right. I am a translator, including of one book on the reading list; I will bring my translation experience into our discussions, but even when none of us knows the original language, we can engage more fully with the work by remembering the translator's role in the creation of what we're reading and considering the translator's choices. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA WRCT |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
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Marie NDiaye, Self-Portrait in Green (2005), tr. Jordan Stump (2014)
Yan Ge, Strange Beasts of China (2006), tr. Jeremy Tiang (2020)
Claudia Piñeiro, Elena Knows (2007), tr. Frances Riddle (2021)
Olga Tokarczuk, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead (2009), tr. Antonia Lloyd-Jones (2018)
Rachel Cusk, Outline (2014)
Anna Burns, Milkman (2018)
Joy Williams, Harrow (2021)
Ariane Koch, Overstaying (2021), tr. Damion Searls (2024)
Catherine Lacey, Biography of X (2023)
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Examinations and Assignments:
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Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
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