As climate change and social inequality have become the most pressing concerns on a global scale, Western cultures are increasingly incapable of imagining a non-apocalyptic future. We are inundated by more or less violent social and ecological disaster fictions. The four novels offered for discussion in this class are no exception to the rule, but they promise slightly more critical readings of the present and they include at least minor moments of a utopian future. Among the themes to be discussed are the victimization and agency of women and society's responsibility toward future generations.
Texts to be purchased and read:
Margaret Atwood, Oryx&Crake (2003). Virago. ISBN-13: 978-0349004068
Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents (1998). Headline. ISBN-13: 978-1472263650
Nathaniel Rich, Odds Against Tomorrow (2014) Macmillan. ISBN-13: 978-1250043641
Louise Erdrich, Future Home of the Living God (2017). Harper. ISBN-13: 978-1472153340
A Reader with additional texts (Copy&Paste)
Admission to the class depends on students to sign up electronically. All students have to participate in a QUIZ (Lektürekontrolle) on Margaret Atwood, Oryx&Crake, in the first session. Please read and bring along the novel for that purpose. |
