123042 PS PS Literary Studies (2024S)

Tweed jackets, handwritten notes, whimsical playlists: “dark academia” seems to be an almost ubiquitous phenomenon on social media, having experienced a particular rise during the closure of university spaces during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this course, we will explore via a range of representative novels and novel excerpts from this genre, as well as the (adjacent, but not completely synonymous) genres of the campus novel and varsity novel. While the majority of time will be devoted to three contemporary novels (Tartt, Rooney, Batuman), we will also trace the (not-so-secret) history of these three related genres via excerpts from campus/varsity novel classics such as Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, David Lodge’s Small World, and Zadie Smith’s On Beauty. Beyond literary analyses, the politics of (in)visibility and inclusion/exclusion in these texts, as well as university spaces at large, will constitute important discussion topics throughout the course.

In addition to discussing the literary texts in detail via small-group and plenum discussions, we will revise a range of analytical tools and theoretical approaches, giving students the chance to develop their analytical and academic writing skills further and providing them with basic theoretical tools for the critical analysis and interpretation of literary texts. At the end of this course, students will have learned how to find and narrow down a research topic, formulate a research question, find and integrate secondary literature, adhere to the rules of good scientific practice, and structure and write a term paper.