Department of English

Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University


 

2202441  British Fiction from the Twentieth Century to the Present

 



Puckpan Tipayamontri
Office: BRK 1106
Office Hours: M 1–3 (If you are off-campus, via Zoom Meeting Room) and by appointment
Phone: 0 2218 1780
puckpan.t@chula.ac.th

Announcements

! Final Paper: As requested, the Mapping British Fiction final paper due date has been extended to Friday, June 3, 2022 at 4 p.m.

 

! Insights into British Fiction Presentation: The guidelines for this and for the final paper are accessible here and also linked to on our detailed schedule page.

 

! Habitat of Happiness: Sign up to focus on a topic in the ecology of Aminatta Forna's novel here.

  

! Semester Preparedness: All class sessions are conducted online, unless indicated otherwise. Test your devices and update relevant software. Set up your class streaming in an environment conducive to your learning. The following useful tools are provided by the university to facilitate your learning.

  • VPN: Chula's virtual private network service gives you access to university privileges and resources from off-campus. Download and install the client, and log in to connect.
  • G Suite for Education: Cloud Google and Microsoft Office 365 applications for collaboration, file-sharing
  • Adobe: The Adobe suite of applications for creating and editing PDFs and multimedia content
  • Chula Reference Databases: University subscribed access to resources such as references, periodicals, audiobooks, and texts via databases like Academic Search Ultimate, Cambridge Books Online, GALE Databases, JSTOR, and Oxford E-books and Journals Online

Course Outline

Course Description: British fiction from the twentieth century to the present is an exciting and provocative body of work that has become even richer and been made even more controversial recently. We will investigate its great changes and wide-ranging impact around the world and all the way to Thailand, our literature, culture and memes. What ideas about fictional forms, authorship, readership and Britishness are debated and redefined throughout the last century to now? Readings include short stories and novels from different decades, from diverse authors, and discussions grapple with the issues they raise about literary craft, production and media, values and context, scholarship and new directions. Our course packet samples authors whose work and ideas have influenced and interrogated British fiction such as Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad, Agatha Christie, Virginia Woolf, Muriel Spark, Salman Rushdie, Timothy Mo, A. S. Byatt, Julian Barnes, and Aminatta Forna.

 

Class Time: T and Th 2:30–4:00

 

Class Location: All live class sessions (classcasts) will be conducted via Zoom. Links to each session are provided on our detailed schedule.

 

Required Texts: Course reading is available digitally. PDF files of required and supplementary material are on Blackboard though you are welcome to acquire your own copies from your favorite book vendors. The publisher and year information given below are editions used in this course.

Detailed Schedule

 

Syllabus 

 

Requirements and Expectations

  • Reading Responses: Aside from occasional writing of other kinds, reading responses are useful exercises that attempt to explain, discuss or comment on a question that you pose about the reading. No more than 300 words is expected per response but it should be well thought out. See samples.

  • Attendance and Participation: Discussion of the texts will be a big part of this class and students are encouraged to express their opinions, share observations and ask questions. Take notes as you read and write down your ideas and questions. Come prepared to discuss the reading material.

  • There will also be short presentations, creative pop events, two tests, and a final paper (5–7 pp.).

Studying
British Fiction
  • Boxall, Peter, ed. The Cambridge Companion to British Fiction: 1980–2018. Cambridge UP, 2019.

  • Bradbury, Malcolm. The Social Context of Modern English Literature. Blackwell, 1971.

  • Bradford, Richard. The Novel Now: Contemporary British Fiction. Blackwell, 2007.

  • Head, Dominic. The Cambridge Introduction to Modern British Fiction. Cambridge UP, 2004.

Writing
Links
Essential References

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. Modern Language Association of America, 2009.

mw 11ed

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Merriam-Webster, 2008.

Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 20 vols. Oxford UP, 1989.

rogets 7ed

Roget's International Thesaurus. 7th ed. Ed. Barbara Ann Kipfer, Harper, 2010.

 

 

 


Home  |  Literary Terms  |  English Resources  |  Authors


Last updated May 27, 2022