Neoliberal Fictions (O)

3 ch (3S) (W) · Undergraduate

Examine contemporary American novels that respond to neoliberal ideology and imagine alternatives to it. Neoliberalism, a doctrine that asserts the primacy of the free market, has shaped what seems politically, economically, and culturally possible since the 1980s. Explore how neoliberalism transformed the contemporary novel and how certain works of literature, in turn, guided the evolution of neoliberalism or challenged its cominance. Authors discussed may include Don DeLillo, Karen Tei Yamashita, Colson Whitehead, Chang-Rae Lee, Jennifer Egan, Jesmyn Ward, Jonathan Lethem, Rachel Jushner, and Richard Powers. NOTE : Open to ENGL Honours students.