AJ14004 British Literature: 1890-1945

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2010
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
doc. Michael Matthew Kaylor, PhD. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Timetable of Seminar Groups
AJ14004/A: Wed 13:20–14:55 G31, M. Kaylor
AJ14004/B: Wed 15:00–16:35 G31, M. Kaylor
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ09999 Qualifying Examination && AJ04003 Intro. to Literary Studies II
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 40 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/40, only registered: 0/40, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/40
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course will engage and provide a comprehensive overview of the texts and contexts of the English Modernists, namely Henry James, Joseph Conrad, George Bernard Shaw, Lytton Strachey, Frederick Rolfe, A. J. A. Symons, Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, T. E. Lawrence, W. B. Yeats, Virginia Woolf, E. M. Forster, Forrest Reid, D. H. Lawrence, W. H. Auden, and T. S. Eliot. Special attention will be paid to how various literary and visual forms are employed for biographical, political, social, cultural, and religious ends. This period is unique for its aspirations as much as its accomplishments, for its experimental and avant-garde tendencies, for its conception of the writer as endeavoring to, in Forster’s phrasing, ‘only connect’. Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to discuss the writing of others with sensitivity and appreciation; have an understanding of the contexts of English Modernism; and be familiar with the key writers and their texts.
Syllabus
  • Week 1: Introduction. Week 2: Henry James, What Maissie Knew. Week 3: Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness. Week 4: George Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara. Week 5: Lytton Strachey, from Eminent Victorians. Week 6: Frederick Rolfe, The Desire and Pursuit of the Whole. Week 7: Wilfred Owen, “Dulce et Decorum Est”, “Strange Meeting”, “Anthem for Doomed Youth”; Siegfried Sassoon, “Counter-Attack”, “Suicide in the Trenches”; T. E. Lawrence, from Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Week 8: W. B. Yeats, “Sailing to Byzantium”, “The Second Coming”, “The Adoration of the Magi” (essay), “The Magi”. Week 9: Virginia Woolf, Orlando: A Biography. Week 10: E. M. Forster, “The Story of a Panic”; Forrest Reid, “Pan’s Pupil”; W. B. Yeats, “The Stolen Child”. Week 11: D. H. Lawrence, “The Rocking-Horse Winner”. Week 12: W. H. Auden, “Musée des Beaux Arts”, “Funeral Blues”, “Prospero to Ariel”, “September 1, 1939”. Week 13: T. S. Eliot, from Four Quartets.
Literature
  • Batchelor, John. The Edwardian Novel. london: Dockworth, 1986.
  • Willison, Ian, Warwick Gould and Warren Chernaik, eds. Modernist Writers and the Marketplace. Basingstoke & London: Macmillan, 1996.
  • Leavis, Q. D. Fiction and the Reading Public. London: Chatto & Windus, 1932.
  • Feldman, Jessica. Gender on the Divide: The Dandy in Modernist Literature. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1989.
  • Hall, Lesley. A. Hidden Anxieties: Male Sexuality 1900-1950. Cambridge: Polity Press. 1991.
  • The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 6th edn., vol. 2 (New York: Norton, 1993)
  • Miller, Jane Eldridge. Rebel Women: Feminism, Modernism and the Edwardian Novel. London: Virago, 1994.
  • Keating, Peter. The Haunted Study: A Social History of the English Novel 1875-1914.
Teaching methods
One 2-hour seminar per week, plus individual tutorials prior to the end of course assessment.
Assessment methods
All materials covered are provided in the ELF system as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. To augment and deepen our discussion of the English Modernists, students will be expected to write an essay (1,000 words, typed, double-spaced). It should have a well-crafted thesis, should be scholarly in tone, and should endeavor to support all claims textually through the materials listed below. There will be a 1-hour final exam. Final grades will be divided in the following proportions: 30% for attendance and class participation; 30% for the essay; 40% for the exam.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
http://elf.phil.muni.cz/elf/course/view.php?id=1893
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 1999, Autumn 2000, Autumn 2001, Autumn 2002, Spring 2003, Spring 2004, Spring 2005, Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2010, recent)
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