This course will focus on the historical dimension of the contemporary novel. We will explore historical fiction, the novel’s engagement with history and with questions of historical truth, and the interplay between the personal and the historical in recent fiction writing. Works for this course are chosen to represent a broad historical and geographical range. Theorizations of the historical novel as well as the historical contexts of works on the syllabus will be studied in detail. The international list of authors on the syllabus (from the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand, Israel, Spain, the U.S., South Africa and Germany) will include works by the following authors: John Fowles, Claire Keegan, Lloyd Jones, A. B. Yehoshua, Javier Cercas, Jenny Erpenbeck, Graeme Mcrae Burnet, and Deborah Levy.
Readings
TBA
Assessment
Requirements include short and long written assignments, class participation, and presentations.
**Assessments subject to change**
Prerequisites
- ENGL 200
- ENGL 290
Additional information
This is a combined graduate and undergraduate seminar. Its aim is to give undergraduates a taste of graduate study in English, but with a workload equivalent to a typical 400-level ENGL course. Its enrolment will consist of approximately two-thirds graduate students and one-third undergraduates.
This course is recommended only for students who have some background in literary theory, whether from ENGL 296 or 297 or some other course with a focus on literary theory. If you have questions about your eligibility, please contact the English Department at englishdept@queensu.ca.
There are very limited spaces for undergraduates in this course, so enrolment is by permission only. If you are interested in taking it please send your name and student number to englishdept@queensu.ca.
