ENGL 302 Narrative and the Novel
Unit Description
This unit explores narrative technique in the novel. We will study recent theories of how narratives work and apply these ideas to the interpretation of novels with apparently different aims and strategies, including realism, experimentation with form, and the use of the genre as a vehicle for social commentary or humour. Particular attention will be paid to reconceptualisations of the genre, and the various Structuralist and Post-structuralist theories accounting for the construction of meaning in narrative.
In this unit, students will learn advanced textual analysis and critical practice, including how to interpret and describe the way time and pace are managed; the representation of character and agency; the presentation of consciousness and memory; subjectivity; metafiction; and style and rhetoric in prose fiction.
Major Themes and Issues Covered by the Unit
- narrative technique and textual meaning of the novel
- critical reading, textual analysis, research and writing about novels
- form and genre
- focalisation and characterization
- language use (literary rhetoric)
- representing consciousness in literature