Course overview
This intermediate course explores long-form fiction, drawing on and extending knowledge developed in first year. It examines the rise, maturation, and diversity of the novel in a number of English-speaking contexts (Australia, the United Kingdom, North America, South Africa), and it speculates on the longevity and future of this highly successful narrative form in Anglophone literature. Students will be equipped with an understanding of the history and development of the novel in local contexts, and how the form has been fractured by global movements such as World War I, postmodernism and the Anthropocene, as well as the impact of new technologies such as the incorporation of graphics and the use of AI.
Course learning outcomes
- Develop a detailed knowledge of the history of the novel by reading, interpreting, and contextualising a range of texts, both in terms of their context and form
- Understand the literary history of the novel from its inception in the eighteenth-century in a range of global and national contexts
- Situate the novel in a range of local contexts, evaluating how the form is influenced and shaped by culture
- Identify how global forces have influenced, and are influencing, the narrative structures of the novel
- Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the novel’s contemporary currency and how specific formal innovations, issues tackled and technologies are transforming its creation and expression
- Write and research critical analysis and essays about a range of novels, drawing on theoretical perspectives