This 10-week, 20-hour course is designed for learners with at least an upper-intermediate level of English. During the trimester, the class will read Walker Percy’s classic 1961 novel The Moviegoer. Widely considered one of the greatest American novels, Percy’s book is both a universal existentialist story, exploring the spiritual challenges of living in a world shaped by mass media and declining traditional values, and a work deeply connected to its historical context: the postwar 1950s, one of the most fascinating periods in modern history.

We will be doing close readings of the novel, exploring what Percy means by “everydayness” and “the search”, while also contextualising the novel historically, placing it into dialogue with other iconic mid-century works of literature and film: Nicholas Ray’s 1956 film Rebel Without a Cause, Allen Ginsberg’s 1956 poem Howl, Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road, Don Siegel’s 1956 sci-fi horror film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Elia Kazan’s 1954 cinematic masterwork On the Waterfront.

Additionally, we will be discussing the novel’s “Southerness.” What are some key elements that differentiate literature of the American South from that of the North? What haunted obsessions mark Southern writers, and how does the legacy of the Civil War make its impact felt on their fiction? What is “Southern Gothic”? Through close readings and historical excavations, students will gain a better understanding of the novel’s enduring preoccupations, its character as a “regional” work of literature, and its status as a cultural landmark from one of American history’s most endlessly mesmerising eras.

In-class discussions and activities will be supported by materials and assignments housed on the Moodle digital platform.

In this course students will interpret and analyze an essential work of American literature, learn about the culture and history that surround the work and its author, improve their speaking abilities through class discussions, develop writing skills both online and in class, and gain greater confidence with English and literature overall.

Choose between 2 sessions, at midday or in the afternoon.

Instructor: Michael Engle