2025/2026

Современный англоязычный роман

Статус: Дисциплина общефакультетского пула

Кто читает: Школа филологических наук

Где читается: Факультет гуманитарных наук

Когда читается: 3 модуль

Охват аудитории: для всех кампусов НИУ ВШЭ

Преподаватели: Швец Анна Валерьевна

Язык: английский

Кредиты: 3

Контактные часы: 36

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This survey course is designed for the undergraduate students who are interested in the development of contemporary English-language prose from World War II onwards. Students will critically read and discuss a number of assigned Key Texts, which are not covered in the general course on American and European Literary History, as well as engage in independent reading outside of class. To fulfill the requirements of the course students need to have a good command of written and spoken English (required CEFR language proficiency level is B2 or C1).

Learning Objectives

• To broaden one’s knowledge about the body of written works produced in the XXth-XXIst centuries, putting it in the larger theoretical perspective of the history of ideas.
• To increase one’s proficiency in critically reading, reflecting, analyzing, and interpreting a range of assigned Key Texts in the original from a historical and contextual perspective.
• To hone one’s analytical skills necessary for advancing clear and compelling arguments in the interpretation of a text, both orally and in writing.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Students apply critical frameworks—such as the bildungsroman, naturalist determinism, and dystopian theory—to analyze the relationship between literary form and social commentary in the novels.
• Students evaluate how contemporary novels reconfigure classic subgenres to address 21st-century concerns, constructing a coherent argument about the evolution of the English-language novel.
• Students synthesize insights from across the subgenres to assess the novel’s ongoing function as a tool for mapping modernity and its discontents.
• Distinguish between modes of fantastic worldbuilding using two models: dystopian extrapolation (Dick), which modifies select elements of a familiar world (ecology, technology) to critique the present, and total synthetic simulation (Herbert), which creates a holistic alternative universe with its own ecology, politics, religion, and economy.
• Provide a reasoned argument for the family saga's connection to the epic tradition, where the fundamental narrative unit is not the individual hero but the familial line ("character line"), which carries within it history, trauma, and identity.
• Define the campus novel as a particular subgenre of the industrial or "condition of England" novel and explain how the academic environment is portrayed as an industry with its own specific economy (prestige, publications, tenure), hierarchy, and language (academic jargon, administrative newspeak).
• Interpret the metropolis (New York, Chicago) not as a backdrop but as an active force shaping the protagonist's identity, offering scripts for social mobility while simultaneously being a source of alienation and illusion.

Course Contents

• The Novel as a Genre: A Single Whole or a Host of Subgenres?
• The Urban Novel & The (De)Formed Bildungsroman
• The Family Saga: Epic, Naturalism, and the Determinisms of Blood
• The University Novel: The Academy as Industry
• Science Fiction as Worldbuilding: The Poetics of the Imagined

Assessment Elements

• Lecture Attendance: Активность 0.1
  As a measure of engagement with the course, lecture attendance is very important for learning; therefore, it is compulsory for everyone taking the course and will be monitored via an attendance sheet. Students should inform their instructor about their excused absences before the class (not after) by email, and provide the doctor’s notes and other documents about them. An excused absence is an absence due to a number of accepted reasons such as a medical or personal issue beyond one’s control, participation in a significant extracurricular university event, conference etc. If the absence is excused, the grade for lecture attendance will not be reduced.
• Essay: Эссе 0.4
  The written examination consists of a literary analysis essay (3–5 A4 pages (1100–1600 words) long in MLA style PLUS a Works Cited page), the purpose of which is to carefully examine an aspect of a text from the list of suggested reading and to present an argument / claim about it. As with any analysis, this requires the writer to be selective and break the subject down in to its component parts. The list of suggestions and guidelines will be given in advance. The essay topic is to be devised by the student and should be approved by the course instructor beforehand. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. For each plagiarized sentence, the student loses one point (for example, 8 → 7). If there are more than three plagiarized sentences in one’s work, the grade for the essay is a zero. The essay should be uploaded via Smart LMS before the deadline. If one’s essay is late, it is not accepted or assessed – the grade is a zero. This paper should incorporate at least two additional scholarly sources.
• Seminar Participation: Активность 0.25
  Active participation in group discussions and in-class assignments is required at every seminar. Students should be in class on time. They are to prepare for every class and to be active in class discussions, being able to respond to any question connected with the issue under discussion. They will get a minus if they have not done their assigned reading and come unprepared or stay silent during the class, and their seminar participation grade will be affected. If one’s absence is excused, the grade for seminar participation will not be reduced.
• Presentation: Доклад 0.25
  Several topics for group presentations will be given throughout the course as a way for students to demonstrate understanding and mastery in their own unique way. Each student must take part in such an activity once per course. Students must make their presentations on time. Presentations require one’s presence in class and cannot be postponed; if a student has to miss the class, they should find themselves a replacement (another student who will agree to make the presentation in their place). Otherwise, they will get a zero regardless of any excuses. Instructions and topics will be given electronically.

Interim Assessment

• 2025/2026 3rd module
  0.4 * Essay: Эссе 0.4 + 0.1 * Lecture Attendance: Активность 0.1 + 0.25 * Presentation: Доклад 0.25 + 0.25 * Seminar Participation: Активность 0.25

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• A companion to the modern American novel, 1900-1950, , 2009
• Birke, D. (2016). Writing the Reader. Configurations of a Cultural Practice in the English Novel. De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110399844
• Factual fictions : the origins of the English novel, Davis, L. J., 1996
• Fighting the future war : an anthology of science fiction war stories, 1914-1945, , 2012
• Harvey, C. B. (2015). Fantastic Transmedia : Narrative, Play and Memory Across Science Fiction and Fantasy Storyworlds. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Journalism and the novel: truth and fiction, 1700-2000, Underwood, D., 2010
• Language in science fiction and fantasy : the question of style, Mandala, S., 2012
• Patrick Parrinder. (2006). Nation and Novel : The English Novel From Its Origins to the Present Day. OUP Oxford.
• The Cambridge companion to American novelists, , 2013
• The Cambridge history of the English novel, , 2012
• The gothic imagination : conversations on fantasy, horror, and science fiction in the media, Tibbetts, J. C., 2011
• The rise of the novel : studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding, Watt, I., 2000
• Бутенко, Т. В. Key Issues in the Contemporary Novel in English = Ключевые проблемы в современном романе на английском языке : учебное пособие / Т. В. Бутенко, М. А. Кузина, Ю. А. Чинкина. — Москва : МПГУ, 2021. — 180 с. — ISBN 978-5-4263-1017-9. — Текст : электронный // Лань : электронно-библиотечная система. — URL: https://e.lanbook.com/book/252938 (дата обращения: 00.00.0000). — Режим доступа: для авториз. пользователей.
• Учение о подобии. Медиаэстетические произведения : Сб. статей, Беньямин, В., 2012

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Aspects of the novel, Forster, E. M., 2005
• Between canon and corpus: six perspectives on 20th-century novels. (2015). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.6C4668FB
• C. Scolari, P. Bertetti, & M. Freeman. (2014). Transmedia Archaeology : Storytelling in the Borderlines of Science Fiction, Comics and Pulp Magazines. Palgrave Pivot.
• Massa, A., & Goldman, A. (2016). American Literature in Context : 1900-1930. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1240144
• Moylan, T. (2000). Scraps Of The Untainted Sky : Science Fiction, Utopia, Dystopia. Boulder, Colo: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=200624
• Postmodern science fiction and temporal imagination, Gomel, E., 2010
• The black imagination, science fiction and the speculative, , 2014
• The contemporary American novel in context, Dix, A., 2011
• The Oxford encyclopedia of American literature. Vol.2: William Faulkner - Mina Loy, , 2004
• The Routledge companion to science fiction, , 2011
• The Routledge concise history of science fiction, Bould, M., 2011
• Автор и герой в эстетическом событии, Бахтин, М. М., 2022
• Бутенко, Т. В. Key Issues in the Contemporary Novel in English = Ключевые проблемы в современном романе на английском языке : учебное пособие / Т. В. Бутенко, М. А. Кузина, Ю. А. Чинкина. — Москва : МПГУ, 2021. — 180 с. — ISBN 978-5-4263-1018-6. — Текст : электронный // Лань : электронно-библиотечная система. — URL: https://e.lanbook.com/book/252941 (дата обращения: 00.00.0000). — Режим доступа: для авториз. пользователей.
• Эпос и роман, Бахтин, М. М., 2000

Presentation

• Современный англоязычный роман / Modern English Language Novel
  This survey course is designed for undergraduate students interested in the evolution of novelistic form beyond the established canon. Moving away from a monolithic view of the novel, the course frames it as a dynamic ecosystem of distinct subgenres, each constructing its own social worlds, character types, and linguistic registers. Students will critically read and discuss a series of curated, contrasting pairs—a foundational classic and a sharp contemporary counterpart—across four key genres: the campus novel, the family saga, the urban bildungsroman, and worldbuilding science fiction. Through this comparative approach, the course explores how literary conventions are reshaped across time to reflect changing social, political, and technological realities. Interactive lectures and seminar-style discussions will guide students in analyzing texts through theoretical frameworks such as the bildungsroman, naturalist determinism, and dystopian theory. The course aims to enhance students' understanding of genre theory and 20th/21st-century cultural history while significantly strengthening their skills in comparative literary analysis and critical argumentation. To successfully fulfill course requirements, students must have a proficient command of written and spoken English (a CEFR level of B2/C1 or equivalent is required). Due to the specialized nature of the material, preference in registration will be given to students who have completed foundational courses in literary history. Selection for remaining places will be based on academic record and relevant prior coursework.

Authors

• Shvets Anna Valerevna