In this course we’ll be reading works of fiction (mostly 20th-century) that one way or another deal with the stakes and problems of narration, particulary first-person narration. We’ll look at ways in which narrators wrestle with the difficulties of reconstructing an event in language, the ways this stuggle affects the text, and the problem’s broader implications. Classwork will be mostly dedicated to close reading. Texts will include Notes from the Underground (Dostoyevsky), The Trial (Kafka), Molloy (Beckett), Death and the Dervish (Selimovi?), Cosmos (Gombrowicz), and possibly other selections compiled in a course reader.

The course satisfies the university's W requirement. Students will write one final, 10-12 page paper, which they will have an opportunity to revise in consultation with the instructor