Dr Olga Sobolev PEL 6.01a and Dr Angus Wrenn PEL 6.01a

This course is available to General Course ‘Spring Semester’ students.

Although an A-level pass or equivalent in Literature is useful, it is not an absolute requirement (especially for General Course students).

(a) Study of contemporary (chiefly post 2000) literature and films in the context of modern globalised society, covering prose, poetry, drama and cinematic works; (b) Focus on cultural postmodernism, including such aspects as: decline of national cultural frameworks; 'commodification' of culture; 'media-driven' society; gender issues; the problem of identity and social fragmentation; (c) study of films and individual authors in English translation (where relevant). (d) several related trips to galleries, film festivals and theatre productions during the year; (e) extensive use of archive recordings of authors, and video; (f) students are encouraged to draw upon their background in their main discipline, and to read widely.

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT. 1 hour of lectures and 1 hour of classes in the ST.

Structured activities during the reading week in the LT. Revision workshops and tutorals in the ST.

This course has a reading week in week 6 of the Lent term.

One essay per term; topically based research presentations.

Literature: Vaclav Havel Leaving (Shakespeare King Lear); Milan Kundera, Ignorance; Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist; Marina Lewicka A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian; Jonathan S. Foer Everything  Is Illuminated; ; Zadie Smith, White Teeth; Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Gloria; 

Films: Good Bye, Lenin! (2003, dir. W. Becker); Everything Is Illuminated (2005, L. Schreiber); Loveless (2018, dir, A. Zvyagintsev);

Exam (80%, duration: 3 hours) in the summer exam period.
Presentation (20%) in the LT.