Courses: Modern British Literature: The City and the Country
(ENGLH273A01) The first half of the twentieth century was a time
of social and political upheaval in Britain prompted by two
world wars, the decline of the empire, the consolidation of the
labor movement, the growth of mass literacy, changes in gender
roles, and shifts in sexual morality. The literature of the
period often presents these changes as a pervasive and immanent
crisis that is variously coded as apocalyptic, degenerative, or
dangerously revolutionary. Our exploration of these developments
will be focalized through contrasting representations of the
city and the country. Is the city a place of sophistication or
alienation? Do urban crowds threaten the autonomy of the
individual or do they accentuate it? What are the pleasures and
dangers experienced by women, foreigners, and the working class
as they wander through the cityscape? Does the English
countryside offer a viable alternative through an established
and knowable community? Such que