Brexit has been with us for more than three years now. In the shadow of
all the debates about leaving the EU or remaining in it, a new genre has
emerged: the Brexit novel.
In this seminar we will read novels referred to as Brexit novels with the following aims:
a) we will probe into the usefullness of these texts as sources to tell
us something about the political and social situation that gave rise to
the leave campaign
b) we will scrutinize how these texts reflect the debates and positions through imagery, register, tone and voice
c) we will reflect critically whether the tag "Brexit novel" is a useful term for an emerging genre
In this seminar we will survey the field and decide together which texts
we will consider. So make sure that you come to the first session with
ideas.
Texts we may read are, for example, Jonathan Coe's Middle England (2019), Ali Smith's quartet Autumn (2016), Winter (2017), Spring (2019), Summer (July 2020), Ian McEwan's The Cockroach (2019), John Lanchester's The Wall (2019), ...
Please note that this seminar requires you to read! If you are not
preapred to read around 1200 pages of prose [four novels] during term,
please do not sign up for this seminar.
- Dozent/in: Felix Sprang