Introductory description

The module aims to explore the contemporary novel. Texts are chosen from a changing array of novels from across the world, and published very recently. At its core is the notion of the contemporary and the interrelations between narrative and social, political and historical issues.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Week 1: Günter Grass. Crabwalk. 2002

Week 2: Olga Tokarczuk. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. 2009

Week 3: Dulce Maria Cardoso. The Return. 2011

Week 4: Sara Gran. Claire De Witt and The City of the Dead. 2011

Week 5: Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche. Americanah. 2014

Week 6: Reading week

Week 7: Chico Buarque de Holanda. My German Brother. 2014

Week 8: Kamel Daoud. The Meursault Investigation. 2015

Week 9: Anna Burns. Milkman. 2018

Week 10: Rachel Kushner. The Mars Room. 2018

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Develop an ability to read a novel analytically
• Acquired an understanding of the main tenets of the novel form as currently practiced
• Critically assess the key social, historical and political factors that have shaped these particular novels in national, continental and global settings.
• Improved skills in close textual analysis and essay writing
• Acquired an understanding of the well-established techniques of narration and their effects

Indicative reading list

Week 1: Günter Grass. Crabwalk. 2002

Week 2: Olga Tokarczuk. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. 2009

Week 3: Dulce Maria Cardoso. The Return. 2011

Week 4: Sara Gran. Claire De Witt and The City of the Dead. 2011

Week 5: Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche. Americanah. 2014

Week 6: Reading week

Week 7: Chico Buarque de Holanda. My German Brother. 2014

Week 8: Kamel Daoud. The Meursault Investigation. 2015

Week 9: Anna Burns. Milkman. 2018

Week 10: Rachel Kushner. The Mars Room. 2018

Research element

Essay will require independent research

International

The module surveys literature and culture from a number of countries

Subject specific skills

1. Deepened their understanding of the set texts and developed their ability to read a novel analytically; attending not only to what it says but also the way that it says it.

2. Acquired an understanding of the novel form as currently practiced.

3. Acquired an understanding of the formal techniques of narration and their effects: e.g. the role of different kinds of narrator; the question of the author; the differences between various modes of linguistic register; the importance of focalisation; the workings of free indirect discourse.

4. Begun to understand and critically assess the key social, historical and political factors that have shaped these particular novels in national, continental and global settings.

5. Developed their ability to discuss texts comparatively and acquired some understanding of different cultural traditions of fiction as they appear within and between nations and locales.

6. Acquired some grasp of the theoretical issues currently raised by the novel form, particularly in relation to questions of realism and the visual.

7. Acquired a contextual framework – geographical/formal/historical – for the reading of novels in general.

8. Improved skills in close textual analysis and essay writing

Transferable skills

Understanding of contemporary cultures and social traditions that condition them
An awareness of the politics of literary genre
Ability to research and write a sustained argument