ONLINE: In literary history, 2022 marks the centenary of the two greatest landmarks of Anglo-Irish-American modernism, “The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot and “Ulysses” by James Joyce. Arguably the most important poem and novel of the 20th century, the artistic achievement of these two texts cannot be overstated. Upon publication, despite (or perhaps because of) their difficulty and near impenetrability, both texts were instantly canonical, and the responses to them were nothing if not strong, ranging from praise to condemnation, including censorship and legal proscription. In this course, students will read these two modernist monuments in their entirety. While some attention will be paid to their literary, cultural and historical contexts, class discussions will focus on the fundamental categories of theme, character, setting and style (including irony and humor) to make sense of and to better understand and appreciate Eliot’s and Joyce’s extraordinarily rich innovations in content and form. | Lecture + Q&A, Facilitated discussion.
Max enrollment: 20.
