Course aims:

Incorporating in a unitary and coherent structure the main moments in the evolution of postmodern literature
Specification and description of the specificity of the literary eras and currents in the cultural space of the English language
Explaining the position of literary works in the cultural context and their relation to the literary traditions of the English culture
Analysis of literary texts from the British culture, in compliance with specific research norms
Elaboration of a project on a given theme from British literature and culture, respecting the research norms

Course Entry Requirements:

A very good command of English, minimum B2. Good knowledge of British literature prior to Postmodernism.

Course contents:

C1. Exploring postmodernism 1.1 Postmodernity vs. postmodernism 1.2 Postmodernism: definitions 1.3 Postmodernism: representative authors C2. Exploring postmodernism 2.1 Postmodernism: literary genres 2.2 The postmodern novel 2.3 Postmodern narrative strategies 3. Telling tales about history 3.1 History and / or fiction in postmodern understanding 3.2 Historiographic metafiction 3.3 Representative authors 4. Fictional Unreliability 4.1 Non-credible narration: definition and examples 4.2 The non-credible narrative and the postmodern novel 4.3 Types of non-credible narrators C5. Postmodern fairy tales 5.1 The story addressed to multiple readers 5.2 The role of intertextuality 5.3 The historical context 6. Defamiliarizing the familiar 6.1 Illustrations in the postmodern novel 6.2 Postmodern poetry 6.3 Compositional strategies 7. The “academic novel” 7.1 Characteristics of the British academic novel 7.2 Representatives 7.3 Literary and cultural context 8. Between modernism and postmodernism: Samuel Beckett 8.1 The modernist and the postmodernist theater 8.2 Beckett between modernism and postmodernism 8.3 Postmodern elements in Beckett's prose C9. The post-modern novel? 9.1 Arguments for / against overcoming postmodernism 9.2 Yann Martel, Life of Pi 9.3 Postmodern Elements in Life of Pi 10. Exploring postcolonialism 10.1 The historical context 10.2 The cultural context 10.3 Theoreticians of post-colonialism C11. The Empire re-writes 11.1 Favorite topics of postcolonial literature 11.2 Double identity 11.3 Cultural alienation, multiculturalism 12. The Essay 12.1 Metafiction: definition 12.2 Illustrations in the postmodern novel 12.3 Metafiction in literature and cinematography C13. Postmodernity - synthesis 13.1 Representatives 13.2 Representative novels 13.3 Representative characters 13.4. Literary techniques C14. Course retrospective

Teaching methods:

Lecture, class discutions, problematization

Learning outcomes:

Students should be able, after completing the course, to formulate a professional point of view on the literary phenomenon, starting from the analysis of original literary texts and the positions expressed in texts of criticism and literary history in the specialized bibliography

Learning outcomes verification and assessment criteria:

1 The quality of expression, effective written communication in English 2 The approach in various interpretative perspectives of a literary text, the operation with the techniques of textual analysis 3 Quantity and quality of knowledge acquired;

Recommended reading:

Linda Hutcheon, Theorizing the Postmodern: Toward a Poetics, in l. Hutcheon, A Poetics of Postmodernism. History, Theory, Fiction., Routledge, New York:, 1992, pp. 3-22.
Barry Lewis, Posmodernism and Fiction, in B. Lewis, The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism, Routledge, London, 2005, pp.111-121.
J. Phelan, M. P. Martin, The Lessons of ‚Weymouth’: Homodiegesis, Unreliability, Ethics, and The Remains of the Day, in Narratologies: New Perspectives on Narrative Analysis, D. Herman (ed.), Columbus, Ohio State UP, Columbus, 1999, pp. 88-109.