The politically turbulent years of the 1930s were characterized by economic instability, international conflicts and notable intellectual allegiances to both communism and fascism. Aesthetically, continuations of the modernist project or more traditional forms like the domestic novel as well as direct engagements with the contemporary political situation exist side by side and produce a great diversity of texts that testify to the heterogeneity of this period. In this course we will study a number of these literary products and visions and their contexts.
Since there will be a lot of reading for this course, it is advisable to get hold of and read as many of the novels as possible before the beginning of the semester:
Evelyn Waugh, Vile Bodies (1930)
Sylvia Townsend Warner, Summer Will Show (1936)
Rosamond Lehmann, The Weather in the Street (1936)
Graham Greene, Brighton Rock (1938)
Henry Greene, Party Going (1939)
Patrick Hamilton, Hangover Square (1941)
Further material will be announced and/or made availabe at the beginning of the semester. |
