Modern Fiction

Modern Fiction is an interdisciplinary course designed to augment and supplement the study of fiction dealt with in other literature courses at Rhodes. It also aims to provide a general cultural background to students registered for courses such as Journalism and Media Studies, Law, Political and International Studies, Sociology, Social Anthropology, History, etc.

The major part of the course is devoted to a study of novels and short fiction (in English translation) written since the middle of the 19th century to the present day, by authors like Flaubert, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Proust, Kafka, Mann, Camus, Grass, Robbe-Grillet, Calvino, Marquez, Borges and Kundera. Works by authors from Africa, such as A.C. Jordan, Etienne van Heerden, Tahar Ben Jelloun and Wilma Stockenström feature prominently, while Chinese literature is also now being introduced in the course.

At a more general level, the course studies the characteristics of particular literary genres such as the short story and crime fiction, while also providing a historical overview of the rise of contemporary fictional forms. A section on Narrative Theory introduces students to various narrative strategies employed in contemporary fiction.

There are four periods per week (one theory, one background and two textual studies). Lecturers are drawn, as far as possible, from all the language disciplines at Rhodes.

The examination consists of two three-hour papers. Modern Fiction counts as a second-year credit towards a degree, and is open to students who have already obtained at least two credits. It is strongly recommended that students taking this course should at some stage of their studies enrol for at least one course in a language other than English, although this is not compulsory. Candidates who have not obtained a credit in English II may, with the permission of the Head of the Department of English, proceed from Modern Fiction to English III.