AJ15074 Aspects of Post-war American Fiction

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2015
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)
Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Thu 17:30–19:05 G32
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ09999 Qualifying Examination || AJ01002 Practical English 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 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 7 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This year's course will consider in relative detail a range of fictional, and in one case, partly non-fictional, texts produced by post-war American writers, focusing this semester on works by Vladimir Nabokov, John Steinbeck, Thomas Pynchon, E.Annie Proulx,Paul Auster, Lidia Davis and Jeffrey Eugenides, and their relation to global, regional, socio-geographical and psycho-geographical perspectives deriving from their writing. The aim of the course will be to analyse intrinsically formal elements of textual production, partly in connection with social developments both in the United States and in the post-war world generally but particularly in terms of generating specific, potential forms of subjectivity with which the reader is encouraged to interact. By the end of the course participants are expected to be able to have a more detailed understanding of some of the strategies deployed by those writers considered in this respect.
Syllabus
  • Participants should first note that materials for the course are available from the library in e-prezencka form. Week 1:Introductory Week 2:John Steinbeck: Travels With Charley Week 3:Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita (1) Week 4:Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita (2) Week 5:Thomas Pynchon: The Crying of Lot 49 Week 6:Paul Auster: The New York Trilogy (1) Week 7:Paul Auster: The New York Trilogy (2) Week 8: Reading Week Week 9:Lydia Davis: The End of the Story (1) Week 10:Lydia Davis: The End of the Story (2) Week 11:E.Annie Proulx: The Shipping News (1) Week 12:E.Annie Proulx: The Shipping News (2) Week 13:Jeffrey Eugenides: The Virgin Suicides
Literature
  • The New York trilogy. info
  • Davis, Lidia The End of the Story
  • New York Trilogy
  • Thomas Pynchon V Vintage 1994
  • STEINBECK, John. Travels with Charley and later novels, 1947-1962. 1st Print. New York: Library of America, 2007, 990 s. ISBN 9781598530049. info
  • NABOKOV, Vladimir Vladimirovič. Lolita. Edited by Craig Raine. London: Penguin Books, 1995, 331 s. ISBN 0-14-118253-9. info
  • PROULX, E. Annie. The shipping news. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994, 337 s. ISBN 0-671-51005-3. info
  • EUGENIDES, Jeffrey. The virgin suicides. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 1993, 249 s. ISBN 0747560595. info
  • BOWLES, Paul. The sheltering sky. 1st. Vintage International e. New York: Vintage Books, 1990, 335 s. ISBN 0679729798. info
  • PYNCHON, Thomas. The crying of lot 49 [Pynchon, 1981]. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1981, 138 s. ISBN 0-553-22724-6. info
  • HELLER, Joseph. Catch-22. New York: Dell Publishing, 1962, 463 s. info
  • LOWRY, Malcolm. Under the volcano. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1962, 375 s. ISBN 0-14-001732-1. info
  • LOWRY, Malcolm. Under the volcano. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1962, 375 s. ISBN 0-14-001732-1. info
Teaching methods
Classes will involve a combination of pair-work and overall group discussion based on global and in specific instances intensive reading of the texts considered.
Assessment methods
Students will be assessed by a combination of oral contribution (40%) based on attendance and performance and on a final essay of 5-7 pages (60%).The essay has the status of an exam and needs to be registered for. Essays should be submitted in hard copy form.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2013, Spring 2014.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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