ENGL 442: Contemporary British and Irish Literature

Course Description

This course considers how the unresolved problems of the past continue to haunt the literature of contemporary Britain, Ireland, and the postcolonial Anglophone world. These "returns of the repressed" range from personal traumas and difficult truths that have not been fully processed to groups of people who have suffered systematic inequality and violence. The texts we will read in ENGL 442 address the traumatic collapse of the post-war British empire, focusing not only on Britain's uneasy relationship to immigrants and postcolonial subjects but also on shifting gender roles, changing conceptions of sexual identity, and anxieties about literature's continued relevance in the context of new media. Readings may include works by Pat Barker, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, Hanif Kureishi, Zadie Smith, Tom McCarthy, Angela Carter, and Jeanette Winterson. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One year of college literature or consent of instructor.