The objective of this course is to explore the relationship between historical developments at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st and narrative fiction. This relationship will serve as a foil to explore our culture’s fascination with the end of the world, whether perceived as being supernatural, natural, or human in origin. We will delve into the historical views about the perceived end of the world as seen in various cultures, and what the fiction of our own times shows about our eschatological concerns.
The core of this class will be composed from a group of five novels. Along the lens of postmodernism, we will explore the development from Cormac McCarthy’s The Roadto Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven. Through the lens of post-colonialism, we will examine the novels Oryx and Crakeby Margaret Atwood and The Islands at the End of the Worldby Austin Aslan. To think through the turn toward “apocalyptic comedy” we will examine Yahtzee (“Ben”) Croshaw’s Jam. We will situate these novels within the larger realm of post/apocalyptic fiction as represented in short stories. Beginning with early endeavors in the genre from Jack London and H. G. Wells, we will map the transformations in the genre as authors Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, and Octavia Butler address their visions of apocalypse. We will also explore iterations in the genre from music, film, television, games, and graphic novels.
This course, like all WI courses, will involve the composition of analytic essays. There will be three major analytic essays in this course, for a cumulative of about 20 pages of essay writing. Additionally, there will be one in-class group presentation, discussion posts on Laulima, and a final project.
Objectives:
–Exposure and exploration of media: short story, novel, film, game, and graphic novel.
–Increased awareness of the continuities and changes in literary styles and cultures, particularly in the 20th century, but also in the context of a tradition that has spanned two millenia.
–Improved analytical and critical thinking skills through multiple writing assignments and in-class discussion.
Required Texts:
St. John Mandel, Emily. Station Eleven. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014. ISBN: 978-0-385-35330-4
McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Vintage Book, 2006. ISBN: 978-0-307-27792-3
Atwood, Margaret. Oryx and Crake. New York: First Anchor Books, 2003. ISBN: 0-385-72167-6
Croshaw, Yahtzee (Ben). Jam. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2012. ISBN: 978-1-59582-957-3
Aslan, Austin. The Islands at the End of the World. New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2014. ISBN: 978-0-385-74403-4
A class reader.