The modernist preoccupation with subjective experience is widely acknowledged, but it manifests in very different ways. Why do Modern writers have such different notions of what it means to tell the truth about “inner life”? What makes a novel identifiably Modern? In this class, we’ll read six canonical Modern novels published in Europe and the US within less than a decade of one another. We’ll consider what makes these works similar to one another and what makes them different. We’ll evaluate stylistic and thematic choices and think about how each work is affected by the assumptions and concerns of its writer and the context in which it was produced. Our inquiry will be broad, taking into account not only questions of race, gender, and empire, but also developments in science and industry, and the philosophical preoccupations of the times. Students will be encouraged to develop their own line of questioning within an area of interest to them. Requirements: In addition to class discussion and group work, each class member will write three six-page papers, and have the opportunity to rewrite and extend one paper at the end of the term.

Texts (depending upon availability): Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury; Gide, The Counterfeiters; Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God; Joyce, Portrait of the Artist; Kafka, The Trial; and Woolf, To the Lighthouse