Description
To examine the role of memory in reconstructing an (auto)biographical narrative of oneself or another; to consider the extent to which such narratives (which may be fictional in nature (can be said to be “truthful” to objectively-discernible fact (whatever that may be)); to trace the process of self-construction in such narratives; to examine the phenomena of self-aggrandizement and/or self-deprecation; and related issues as they emerge from such considerations.
Teaching method
Two-hour seminar per week.
Course objectives
Each week one or more participants will hold a short (10-15 minute) presentation leading to anything between two and five question emerging from the text chosen, in such a way as to allow us to structure the ensuing discussion. Participants will have further developed their academic writing and interpretative skills.
Required reading
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Confessions (1782; English version in Penguin Classics, 2005).
Edmund Gosse, Father and Son (2004: Oxford Worlds Classics, ed. Newton).
Jan Morris, Conundrum (1974; pbk rpt 2002).
A.S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance (1990; Vintage pbk rpts).
Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace (1996; Virago pbk rpts).
Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire (1962; Vintage pbk rpts).
Frank Kermode, Not Entitled (1996).
Anthony Burgess, Little Wilson and Big God (1986) and You’ve Had Your Time (1990).
Alan Bennett, Writing Home (2004).
Simon Gray, The Smoking Diaries (Granta 2004; this is a quartet; the first three are published by Granta. All four parts are recommended, but the (eponymously-titled) first and the fourth part, Coda (Faber & Faber 2008) are essential).
Barak Obama, Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1995; Canongate, 2008).
Test method
A research paper, 4.000 – 5.000 words (including bibliography) in length.
Time table
Click here for the timetable
Information
English Department, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 102c. Phone: 071 527 2144, or by mail: english@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Registration
Students can register through U-twist before 15 July, After 15 July students can only register through the Departmental Office.
Blackboard
A Blackboard site will be made available.