21th Century Fiction

The focus of this class will be the study of the XXI century English Language Literature in its social, political, and ethno-cultural context. The course requires a strong commitment to reading. The reading workload might be up to 100 pages per week. Novels by Martin Amis, Ishiguro Kazuo, Ian McEwan, Julian Barnes, Irvin Welsh, Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith, Peter Ackroyd, and John Coetzee will be read and discussed. Students will be required to write significantly in class and at home. In the midterm and final papers, students will be expected to discuss a work of literature using an interdisciplinary approach.