This course explores modernism and its social life, one defined by the city, class consciousness, and the shifting relationship between art and mass culture. Even as we examine the glittery surface of parties and fashion, we will also consider underlying tensions between social classes. Related topics may include urban life and the city as a space for social interaction, leisure and labor, mass production and consumption, individuals and crowds, and gender. In addition to a course pack with poetry and short stories, we will read novels by Oscar Wilde, E. M. Forster, Rebecca West, Virginia Woolf, Aldous Huxley, and Evelyn Waugh. Time permitting, we will also discuss films such as Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936) and Stephen Fry’s Bright Young Things (2003). In addition to a demanding reading schedule, English 336 requires active participation in discussions and groupwork as well as exams, essays, and presentations.