This course is held in-person. If you have a time conflict, seek another course. Week 1 features lectures necessary for the course as a whole.
This class introduces the student to British modernism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and engages the complexities of the period. While we build a context for understanding the emergence of literary works at this time, we will focus on two skills: that of "close reading"—techniques for analyzing a literary text on its own terms—and of comparative thematic analysis—bringing texts together in order to make a convincing argument based on proof provided by disparate materials. The student therefore will become familiar with the historical time period and intimate with the means by which not only arguments are constructed, and what it means to immerse one's self in a novel, poem, or avant-garde manifesto.
Our specific way into this will be to focus on the trope of embodiment: what constitutes a body, a "self," or a psyche for these various authors? Can you have a body without having a mind—or vice versa—and if so, which is preferable? Do the characters bleed, or do they crackle with electricity? What is at stake in such distinctions? In addition to paying attention to individual bodies, we will focus on depictions of groups of bodies, especially the themes of crowds and violence. We will read both fiction, emphasizing narrative technique; and poetry, with an ear toward the peculiarities of syntax. By the end of this class, you will know what syntax means, and perhaps even have one of your own.
In addition to the motif of embodiment, the class will focus repeatedly on the intellectual issue of aesthetic autonomy. What, if anything, does art owe to life? Less of a general question, we’ll approach this as a question posed by the authors and / in their works.
The emphasis will be on historical interpretation, grounded in formal analysis. Active participation is mandatory: subsequent to introductory lectures, we will use discussion as a means of exploring the material. Therefore as we explore the stakes of embodiment, your own body—and hopefully your mind—must be in the classroom.
Readings may include James Joyce, Katherine Mansfield, Ezra Pound, Virginia Woolf, and lesser known writers like the eminently peculiar poet and prose writer Mina Loy. As noted, we’ll be focusing on British authors--even the ones born in St. Louis and Idaho.