Modern European Novel

Prof. W. C. Nielsen

The Modern European Novel: Authoring the Experimental Self

Pablo Picasso, Girl Before a Mirror (1932), Oil on Canvas, MOMA, New York, NY, USA

ENLT 376 (11223)
MR 04:00-05:15PM
DICKSON HALL 179 (no food or drink please)
<http://chss.montclair.edu/~nielsenw/menovel.html>
<http://english.montclair.edu/>

Prof. Wendy Nielsen
Dickson Hall 324
nielsenw@mail.montclair.edu
Office Hours: M 2:30-4; R 10:30-11:30 & 2:15-2:45; & by appt.

Texts available at University Bookstore:

Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment (Norton Critical Ed.)

Hermann Hesse, Steppenwolf: a Novel (Picador)

Andre Breton, Nadja (Grove)

Franz Kafka, The Trial (Schocken)

Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Perennial)

Supplemental texts available via web page

Course description:

Satisfies: 1c (other literature), 3 (genre), 4a (multinational), and 4d (gender studies)

The title of this course is “The Modern European Novel: Authoring the Experimental Self.” Before it was known as World War I, the so-called Great War left writers, thinkers, and individuals reeling from uncertainty, doubt, and fear. The great Modernist novels written between 1910 and 1930 thus depict a common struggle across Europe: to self-author an “experimental self” free from traditional trappings. We will read and discuss characters who find themselves caught between things—between two world wars, between individualism and society, between male and female identity, between national borders, and between desire and reason. Students will leave this course with a profound appreciation for the ways in which the novel has evolved from 1866 to 1984. In order to understand the past and future of Modernist novelists (Hesse, Breton, and Kafka), we will read their predecessors (Dostoevsky) and successors (Kundera).

Requirements:

Essay (25%)

Oral participation, discussion questions, attendance, and in-class writing projects (25%)

Midterm (25%)

Final exam, cumulative, with emphasis on Unit II (25%)

Grading Rubric: 98-100 A+; 93-97 A; 90-92 A-; 87-89 B+; 83-86 B; 80-82 B-; 77-79 C+; 73-76 C; 70-72 C-; 67-69 D+; 63-66 D; 60-62 D-; 0-59 F

Please observe the following:

Your classmates and your instructor depend on your presence in class and your full participation. Participation therefore counts for a substantial part of your grade. Please be in class at the start of the hour with work completed. 3 absences are automatically excused, but failure to attend class beyond that number will affect your final grade.

Papers should be no longer or shorter than the length assigned and submitted on time. Use twelve-point type, in Times New Roman or CG Times (or 10 pt. in Veranda, etc.). Late papers will result in grade reductions. Never submit a paper without proofreading it carefully.

To teach students to avoid plagiarism, lectures will also include instruction in MLA documentation of all work. Submitting work and words that are not your own will result in failing this course and disciplinary action by the Dean of Students.
Owing to organizational issues, late homework assignments (discussion questions, etc.) cannot be accepted, but you may include these in an optional portfolio of your participation work (see assignments, last day).

Accommodations are always arranged for students with disabilities. Please call, email, or see the instructor personally.

Tentative Class schedule--Please check website <http://chss.montclair.edu/~nielsenw/menovel.html> for updates

Date	Topics	Assignments
	Unit I: Rebelling Against . . .
1. R 9/8	Course/student introduction; What is the novel? In-class writing: What is "modernity/modernism/modern"?	Monday's reading assignment is in the cell below
2. M 9/12	Review of L. 1; Dostoevsky Bio, Discussion Questions, & Close Interpretation; Writing Group sign-up	Dostoevsky 1-64
3. R 9/15	Review of L. 2; Writing Groups Assignment; Social Utopianism and Nihilism;	Dostoevsky 64-111; Write 3 discussion questions (written--will be collected)
4. M 9/19	Review of L. 3; Close Reading Exercise: Essay I: Close Reading assigned	Dostoevsky 111-65
5. R 9/22	Review of L. 4; Student Discussion Questions; Utilitarianism and the Woman Question	Dostoevsky 166-227 [through Pt. 3, ch. 5]; Bring 3 discussion questions to class (will be collected)
6. M 9/26	Review of L. 5; Party Game; Directed Questions	Dostoevsky 227-80 [through Pt. 4, ch. 4]
7. R 9/29	Review of L. 6; Dostoevsky as Drama; Evaluation of Essay I	Dostoevsky 280-330 [through Pt. 5, ch. 2]
8. M 10/3	Keywords in C&P; Writing Group A: Editing via keywords; Raskolnikov on Trial	Dostoevsky 330-90 [through Pt. 6, ch. 2]; Group A posts essay to Bb and/or brings essay to class (3 copies)
9. R 10/6	Writing Group B	Dostoevsky 390-433 [through Pt. 6, ch. 6]; Group B posts essay to Bb and/or brings essay to class (3 copies)
10. M 10/10	Revised Essay I: Close Reading due	Dostoevsky 433-65 [finish]; Finish Revising Essay
11. R 10/13	Hermann Hesse	Hesse 1-66; Bring 3 discussion questions to class
12. M 10/17	Faust and Goethe; Student Questions; Modernism; Dada, Surrealism, and Existentialism	Hesse 66-102; Bring three discussion questions to class
13. R 10/20	Review; Images from the novel; Who are Hermine and Pablo?; Structural elements in Steppenwolf; War?; Dancing and Sexuality	Hesse 102-80
14. M 10/24	Group Discussion: Immortals, Mozart, and the Magic Theater; Midterm review	Hesse 180-218
15. R 10/27	Midterm	Study for Midterm
	Unit II: The Experimental Novel
16. M 10/31	Breton Bio; Surrealism and Breton; Surrealist Manifesto; Second Manifesto	Breton 1-39; Bring three discussion questions to class
17. R 11/3	Student Questions; Dreams and Hallucination; Translations	Breton 39-74
18. M 11/7	Review; Your questions; Surrealism and the Occult; In-class writing: Manifestos	Breton75-130; Bring three discussion questions to class
19. R 11/10	Summary: the Modernist Novel (Group Disc.)	Breton 130-60
20. M 11/14	Review: Modern Novel; Syllabus change 11/21; Kafka's The Trial	Kafka 1-34; Bring three discussion questions to class
21. R 11/17	Review: Your Questions; Authority and Gender in Kafka	Kafka 35-79
22. M 11/21		Kafka 80-130
23. M 11/28	The Trial and Kafka's Life	Kafka 131-65; [NEW!] Bring three discussion questions to class
24. R 12/1	Student Questions: End of The Trial	Kafka, 166-231
25. M 12/5	Kundera and the Novel: Biography and Existential Codes	Kundera 1-78
26. R 12/8	Timeline; Prague Spring; Your Questions; Love, Death, and Kundera	Kundera 79-127; Bring three discussion questions to class
27. M 12/12	Unbearable, Oedipus, and Narration	Kundera 131-278
28. R 12/15	Final assigned; Course summation	Kundera 281-314: Optional: Participation Portfolio due (discussion questions, in-class writing assignments, etc.)
Finals wk.	Take-home Exam: Due no later than Wed. 12/21 from 12 to 2pm in 324 Dickson	Take-home Final Exam