ML2205: A Special Subject in the Novel: Transgressions

2018-9 Terms 1 and 2

Tutors:  Dr Hannah Thompson, Prof. Abigail Lee-Six

Assessment: Formative Commentary (0%); Essay 1,500-2,000 words (30%),; Exam (60%); Moodle tests (10%)

Overview: This course will focus on five novels and a short story dealing with the theme of transgression. It will also look at the genre of the novel and at whether the novels studied transgress its formal parameters. The course will be comparative in focus, studying the set texts not only individually, but also looking at thematic and formal convergences and divergences between them.

Set texts and recommended editions where appropriate

D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover (London: Penguin Classics 2006) ISBN 9780141441498

Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jealousy (Richmond: OneWorld Classics, 2008) ISBN 9781847490445 or La Jalousie [original French], any edition

Emile Zola, Thérèse Raquin [same title in English and original French], any edition

Juan Rulfo, ‘Talpa’ [same title in English and original Spanish], in The Burning Plain and Other Stories or The Plain in Flames [both English translations are acceptable] or in El llano en llamas [original Spanish], any edition

Esther Tusquets, The Same Sea as Every Summer or El mismo mar de todos los veranos [original Spanish], any edition

Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita. Recommended edition: The Annotated Lolita (London: Penguin, 1995) ISBN: 978-0-141-18504-0 [a butterfly on a light grey background on the cover], but if you are reading it for the first time, you are advised not to consult the notes and introduction on first reading.