| Detailed Course Description: In this course we will devote our attention to eight novels produced in Great Britain during the twentieth century. This is, of course, just a sampling of a very rich and expansive literary period, and we will therefore not attempt to construct any single narrative about British culture based on our texts. We will, however, entertain possible connections between texts, keeping an eye out in particular for how England—a nation whose imperial status dwindles during the course of the twentieth century—is represented in relation to the countries it colonizes or once colonized. We will be on the lookout, that is, for narrative constructions of “home” and “abroad,” “colonizer” and “colonized,” “West” and “East,” and the values assigned to these categories. A second, perhaps unrelated, theme we’ll explore is the role of the artist as presented in these novels, particularly as it relates to England’s rapidly changing social fabric. |
