HONR-2140 : Literary Innovations 2

The second Literary Innovations seminar tells the story of innovations in literature from the revolutions of the late 18th century to the present. Just as the rise and diminishment of empires (French, British, German, American, Russian, Chinese, etc.) and World Wars I and II produced a variety of social and cultural ruptures during this period, literature also experienced seismic shifts in the revaluing and repurposing of genres, the rise of the novel as a dominant form, the rapid increase and prevalence of experimentation (e.g., free verse, stream-of-consciousness narrative, pastiche, metafiction, etc.), and the promotion of access to literature across the globe. Breaks with long-established literary traditions resulted in new trans-national literary movements (e.g., Romanticism, Modernism, Post-modernism, etc.). The prolific translation and mass distribution of literary works across national boundaries encouraged writers from many cultures to draw upon wider influences than ever before and to find audiences beyond their nations to create new works and make their voices heard. Through an examination of several significant writers, from Wordsworth to Bishop, from Austen to Borges, from Ibsen to Beckett, this seminar delves into the complexities of literary expression in our recent past.