ENG329H1F: Contemporary British Fiction

​

Welcome to the website for ENG329H1F: Contemporary British Fiction! This is a summer course at the University of Toronto in the May-June 2013 session. Here you'll find the syllabus, reading lists, contact information, the course schedule, and, as the term progresses, a showcase of student work.

​

In this course we will ask what characterizes the fiction of contemporary Britain and what the status and role of fiction is today. What kinds of works are being written, who writes them, and what determines their cultural, aesthetic, and market success? Examining works by authors from a variety of cultural backgrounds, genders and ages, writing in a range of narrative styles and literary genres, we will explore the diverse perspectives and approaches that make up contemporary literary culture. The course readings will include novels, short stories, and theoretical readings on the nature of the contemporary and the production of literature. In addition to reading the texts and exploring the nature of contemporary British authorship, we will also examine the practices and responses of current readers of fiction both by being critical assessors of our own reading practices and by exploring literary reviewing culture (both formal, in such venues as the Times Literary Supplement and the London Review of Books, and informal, in blog posts and customer reviews from online retailers).

​DR. CLAIRE BATTERSHILL

​

Department of English

170 St. George Street

Toronto, ON

​

claire.battershill[at]mail.utoronto.ca