At the end of the course, the student
• has learned to understand and critically assess contemporary developments in North American fiction, including its innovative and experimental forms;
• has learned to understand contemporary literary developments in North America from a cultural-historical and comparative perspective;
• acquired insight into how contemporary authors give shape and expression to issues of (trans)national identity and cultural memory;
• is able to analyze and interpret the multifaceted manifestations of contemporary North American fiction in form, content and context at an advanced level.
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This course focuses on the most important developments in contemporary (post-World War Two) American and Canadian fiction, including the emergence of postmodernism in the 1960s, the rise of the literatures of cultural minorities in the US and Canada, reactions against postmodernism like “the new sincerity”, and the ways in which contemporary authors have dealt with issues concerning (trans)national identity and cultural memory, in particular in the wake of 9/11. Attention will be given to authors of established reputation as well as young and innovative writers. Writers dealt with may include Ralph Ellison, Vladimir Nabokov, Louise Erdrich, Philip Roth, Don DeLillo, Chang-Rae Lee, Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nicole Kraus, Jennifer Egan, Dave Eggers.
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