Monographic lecture: American Modernist Fiction 3301-2ST-WM-LA002
This course/lecture is designed as an overview of literary production in the United States in 1910-1940 designated as American Modernism. One of the most exciting and prolific periods in American literary history, modernism is usually associated with stylistic innovation, theories of artistic purity and artistic independence as well as names such as William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Nathanael West, Zora Neale Hurston and Anzia Yezierska. This course aims not only to introduce students to canonical American writing of the period but also to frame it against political, social and artistic debates of the time. We will discuss the impact of new philosophical and scientific developments such as phenomenology, psychoanalysis or the science of eugenics, explore ethnic variants of American modernism and the impact of two major totalitarian systems of political thought: communism and fascism. Moreover, we will trace the interdependence of literature and film of the period with a special emphasis on the power early Hollywood exerted over literary imagination.
Type of course
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
The participant will:
• understand the emergence and trajectory of the development of literary modernism in the US
• deepen his/her knowledge of the relationship between philosophy, politics and science and American literature in the years 1910-1940
• deepen understanding of American literary and film culture in the pre-WWII period as well as modern times
• become aware of the legacy of literary modernism
Skills
The participant will be able to:
• apply the tools of critical thinking to discuss major cultural concepts
• engage in a dialogue about literary concepts related to modernism as well as modernist experimental prose in the US
• plan and conduct research concerning literary and cultural studies at the academic level
In class discussions students acquire skills of expressing their thoughts in a clear, coherent, logical and precise manner, with the use of language which is correct grammatically, lexically and phonetically.
Assessment criteria
Requirements:
1. attendance (two absences allowed)
2. mid-term exam
3. written final exam
Students taking classes have to demonstrate the knowledge of English at the B2+ level
retake exam session: written final exam
Bibliography
Bibliography:
Primary Sources:
William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury or Light in August
Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time or Farewell to Arms
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Anita Loos Gentleman Prefer Blondes (excerpts and 1953 film with M. Monroe)
Nathaniel West, The Day of the Locust (the novel and the film)
John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men (novella and the film)
Gertrude Stein from Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
Zora Neale Hurston, Anzia Yezierska -- selected short stories.
Filmography:
Modern Times (dir. Charlie Chaplin)
Midnight in Paris (dir. Woody Allen)
Some of background reading:
The Cambridge History of Modernism, ed. Vincent Sherry. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
A History of the Modernist Novel, ed. Gregory Castle. Cambridge University Press, 2015
The Cambridge Companion to American Modernism, ed. Walter Kalaidjian. Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: