LITERATURE
Contemporary American Fiction
AUTUMN LN160
Mondays
In the period following World War II, as the United States rose to power and prominence on the global stage, the American novel likewise attained a preeminence that it continues to hold today. This course will consider some masterworks of the postwar American canon, by major writers including Ralph Ellison, John Updike, Philip Roth, Toni Morrison, Don DeLillo, Marilynne Robinson, Cormac McCarthy and Paul Auster, alongside recent prize-winning novels by Dana Spiotta and Jennifer Egan. Throughout the course, the focus will be on the ways in which writers from a range of ethnic backgrounds have portrayed the multiplicity and diversity of the American experience through a variety of literary forms. Each class will include broad discussion, close reading, and a look at each novel in the context of the American literary tradition.
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BELFIELD |
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10 Mondays |
Sep 24, Oct 1, 8, 15, 22, Nov 5, 12, 19, 26, Dec 3 (No class Oct 29) |
7.30pm - 9.30pm |
| Fee €190 |
Print Open Learning Application Form 2012.13 or ring (01) 716 7123 for Laser/ credit card payment |
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Tutor Details:
Louise Walsh is PhD student in the Clinton Institute of American Studies specialising in 20th Century American and Anglo-Irish Literature. Prior to this she completed an MA in American Literature and Film in UCC. She has tutored in the English Department in UCD since 2008. Louise is a committee member of the Irish Association of American Studies and Reviews Editor of the association’s journal IJASonline. She is an IRCHSS Postgraduate Scholar and an Ad Astra Scholar.
Reading List:
Following is the proposed reading list for this course. We recommend that you only acquire the book for the first class but do not purchase all the books listed in advance, as your tutor will discuss this list and how the course will be organised.
Ellison, R., (1952) Invisible Man
Updike, J., (1960) Rabbit, Run
Robinson, M., (1980) Housekeeping
DeLillo, D., (1985) White Noise
Morrison, T., (1987) Beloved
Auster, P., (1990) The New York Trilogy
Roth, P., (2000) The Human Stain
McCarthy, C., (2006) The Road
Spiotta, D., (2006) Eat the Document
Egan, J., (2010) A Visit from the Goon Squad
Note on Editions:
The Penguin Modern Classics edition of Rabbit Run, widely available in bookshops, has a very useful afterword by John Updike
