2025/2026

Modern English Literature (20th-21st Centuries)

Type: Mago-Lego

Delivered by: School of Foreign Languages

When: 3, 4 module

Online hours: 20

Open to: students of all HSE University campuses

Instructors: Olga A. Kolykhalova

Language: English

Contact hours: 40

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course on twentieth- and twenty-first-century English literature offers an opportunity to study writing and writers in the English language, and to learn about cultural nuances, linguistic habits, and historical contexts. Literature serves as a gateway for students to comprehend the intricacies of different social, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds, which have contributed to the development of literature in English. Many writers from this robust period of literary production influenced the development not only of their national literature but also established their literary reputation in other countries and cultures. Students who decide to join this course will explore English literature in all its major forms — prose, poetry and drama — and relate it to key social and historical contexts. Through guided discussion and independent research, this course will enable students to study English literature in depth, strengthen their ability to read and write critically about literary texts and help them develop a deeper appreciation of the country's entwined literary history. To fulfill the course requirements, students need to have a good command of written and spoken English (required CEFR language proficiency level is B2 / C1).