The Novel and the City

In this course we will take a global and transnational approach as we examine a number of 20th and 21st century British and Anglophone novels about life in the city. We will explore formations of urban life alongside transformations in the novel as a genre. We will put these novels of city life in dialogue with critical theory-that is, theories of culture and society that have as their aim human emancipation (for example, Marxism, feminism, critical race studies, and postcolonial studies). The novels we read will reflect important literary movements such as realism, modernism, and postmodernism. 3 hrs. sem.