The Global Novel Today

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

What does twenty-first century life look like? In this course, we’ll engage with recent novels from around the world taking on questions of migration, ecological change, postcoloniality, and some knottier systems and emotions we might not have ready categories for. Genres will range from speculative fiction to postmodern literary fiction to unconventional psychological realism. Finally, we’ll see how these works intersect with newer media forms like film and television, social media, and video games. Novels might include Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake; Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend; Elif Batuman, The Idiot; Jamil Jan Kochai, The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories; Maya Binyam, Hangman; Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer.