CURSO : NARRATIVE II
TRADUCCION : NARRATIVA II
SIGLA : LET1357
CRÉDITOS : 10
MÓDULOS : 02
REQUISITOS : LET1344
CARÁCTER : MINIMUM
DISCIPLINA : LITERATURE
I. DESCRIPTION
The focus of this course will be the discussion and analysis of English language contemporary narrative. The
lectures and discussions will cover post-war Americana, bildungsroman, postmodern, detective and existential
narratives. An interdisciplinary approach involving literary theory, film, philosophy, pop culture and
psychoanalysis will be employed in these analyses.
II. OBJECTIVES
Generals:
1. To view, discuss and analyze a diverse sample of contemporary texts, representative of the narrative
diversity that emerged after WWII.
2. To study and analyze these narratives, contextualizing their theoretical and thematic concerns.
Specifics:
1. To maintain a continuous and dynamic dialogue with the texts and the theoretical corpus.
2. To apply and achieve nuanced readings and analyses.
III. CONTENTS
1. American landscapes.
1.1 Denis Johnson's Train Dreams.
1.2 Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find.
1.3 Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and Summer People.
1.4 The end of the frontier, the changing of a nation, the search for meaning in an accelerating
world. Suspicion of American exceptionalism, sinister identities and uncanny landscapes.
2. Postmodern voices.
2.1 David Foster Wallace's The Pale King (excerpt).
2.2 George Saunder's Pastoralia.
2.3 The post-modern condition, existentialism, tedium, boredom, simulation, being and the search
for meaningfulness.
3. The Graphic Novel.
3.1 Auster and Mazzucchelli's City of Glass.
3.2 Craig Thompson's Blankets.
3.3 Urban space, identity, metafiction and authorship. Coming of Age, alienation and identity.
IV. METHODOLOGY
- Lectures.
- Class discussions.
- Oral presentations.
- Discussion groups.
PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE
FACULTAD DE LETRAS / Enero 2014
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V. EVALUATION
- Oral presentation: 20%
- In-class written evaluations: 50%
- Final paper: 30%
- Attendance: 70%
VI. BLIOGRAPHY
Compulsory:
Foster Wallace, David The Pale King (excerpt).
Jackson, Shirley The Lottery and The Summer People.
Johnson, Denis Train Dreams.
O'Connor, Flannery A Good Man is Hard to Find.
Paul Auster City of Glass.
Saunder, George Pastoralia.
Thompson, Craig Blankets.
Complementary:
Alford, Steven Spaced-out: Signification and Space. Auster, Paula. The New York
Trilogy.
Baudrillard, Jean Simulacra and Simulation.
Bogart, Edna Censorship and `The Lottery.
Broek, Michael Were it a New Made-World: The Unmasking of America.
Dowell, Bob The Moment of Grace in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor.
Dreyfuss, Hubert All Things Shining.
Kammen, Michael The Problem of American Exceptionalism.
Little, William Nothing to Go on. Auster, Paul. City of Glass.
Nebeker, Helen The Lottery: Symbolic Tour de Force.
Robbins, William Western History: A Dialectic on the Modern Condition.
PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE
FACULTAD DE LETRAS / Enero 2014
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