(PS) Modernist and Postmodernist English Novels: An Introduction

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the differences and similarities between modernism and postmodernism. It explores historical, political, cultural and social issues in the following novels (and their adaptations): James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse (1927) and Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea (1966). These authors are among the most acclaimed authors of the 20th century and remain popular among readers, critics, and adaptors alike. We are going to analyze these three key novels of the twentieth century while considering the context in which they have been written. Along with the context, the modernist and postmodernist features will be explored.