American Fiction: The 20th Century

In this subject, students study a range of major works of American fiction from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries identifying and tracing the different genres and themes that occur over the century and that seem important to American writers. The list is not definitive but includes such ideas as the role of the writer and fiction, the problems of gender, sexuality, class and race but also war, consumerism, surveillance and authority, the environment and technology. Drawing on class discussions and the critical and theoretical articles they read in class they develop their own essay topics.

考察20世纪美国小说的主要作家、作品、主题和文学发展。

• 1Be able to demonstrate a familiarity with some of the key texts of 20th century American fiction
• 2Have a broad understanding of the political, social and cultural changes affecting American fiction from the early to the late early-20 th century and how these have influenced the subject matter and styles of 20 th century American fiction
• 3Have an overview of some of the more important and critical and theoretical works issuing from North America and how these can be usefully applied to the reading of American fiction
• 4Have acquired a transportable set of interpretative skills
• 5Have developed their capacity for independent research
• 6Have developed their capacity for critical thinking and analysis
• 7Have developed their ability to communicate in writing.