ENGL 462

Spring 2020 All Classes

All Classes

Topics in Modern Fiction

SHOW FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE

Credit: 3 OR 4 hours.

Advanced seminar devoted to topics in British, American, and Anglophone fiction from approximately 1800 to the present day. Continental fiction in English translation may occasionally be considered.

3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated with permission of English advising office to a maximum of 6 undergraduate hours if topics vary. May be repeated for graduate credit if topics vary. Prerequisite: One year of college literature or consent of instructor.

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ENGL 462 class schedule data for spring 2020
	CRN	Type	Section	Time	Day	Location	Instructor	Section Details
	32235	Lecture-Discussion	1G	9:30AM -10:45AM	TR	119 English Building	Hansen, J	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 01/21/20-05/06/20 Credit: 4 hours Section Info: When did Agency Become a Secret? British Espionage Fiction from Conrad to 007. The secret agent, the spy who acts on behalf some government, the individual whose agency—defined as his capacity and desire to live a self-directed or private life—has in some sense been erased by national commitments, is one of the most important and certainly one of the most underexplored literary creations of the 20th century. Yet, as the twentieth century dawned and Britain’s Empire foundered, some of the most reflective and insightful English novelists began to write about spies, anarchists, and terrorists. While lesser-known figures like GK Chesterton tried their hand at writing about espionage, some of the most thoughtful and provocative novels of the genre were written in the first decade of the twentieth century by Joseph Conrad. Tracing a literary history that begins with Conrad’s The Secret Agent as well as Chesterton’s The Man Who was Thursday, this course will chart the ways that the collapse of Empire and the two World Wars prepared the way for the Cold War era espionage fiction penned by Ian Fleming, Graham Greene, Frederick Forsyth, and John Le Carré. By reading these pieces we’ll see not only how Conrad’s novels predicted the decline of British power but also how his concerns about agency, subjective choice, and Western Imperialism weighed on the spy novels produced in the shadow of cold war ideology. We’ll also view several British Spy films in order to get a sense of how the genre evolved over the course of the last century. Students will be required to participate fully in class discussions, present on one of the critical texts we’ll be surveying, write two 5-page papers, and take two exams. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
	32233	Lecture-Discussion	1U	9:30AM -10:45AM	TR	119 English Building	Hansen, J	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 01/21/20-05/06/20 Credit: 3 hours Section Info: When did Agency Become a Secret? British Espionage Fiction from Conrad to 007. The secret agent, the spy who acts on behalf some government, the individual whose agency—defined as his capacity and desire to live a self-directed or private life—has in some sense been erased by national commitments, is one of the most important and certainly one of the most underexplored literary creations of the 20th century. Yet, as the twentieth century dawned and Britain’s Empire foundered, some of the most reflective and insightful English novelists began to write about spies, anarchists, and terrorists. While lesser-known figures like GK Chesterton tried their hand at writing about espionage, some of the most thoughtful and provocative novels of the genre were written in the first decade of the twentieth century by Joseph Conrad. Tracing a literary history that begins with Conrad’s The Secret Agent as well as Chesterton’s The Man Who was Thursday, this course will chart the ways that the collapse of Empire and the two World Wars prepared the way for the Cold War era espionage fiction penned by Ian Fleming, Graham Greene, Frederick Forsyth, and John Le Carré. By reading these pieces we’ll see not only how Conrad’s novels predicted the decline of British power but also how his concerns about agency, subjective choice, and Western Imperialism weighed on the spy novels produced in the shadow of cold war ideology. We’ll also view several British Spy films in order to get a sense of how the genre evolved over the course of the last century. Students will be required to participate fully in class discussions, present on one of the critical texts we’ll be surveying, write two 5-page papers, and take two exams. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.