British Modernism and the Short Story

Although short prose fiction is one of the oldest types of literature, the short story in its recognisably modern form only developed in the nineteenth century. Since then, it has – at least from the point of view of a general reading public – often led an existence in the shadow of its much more popular modern ‘sibling’, the novel. Criticism, too, has, in many cases, privileged any given author’s novel-length output, and has, at best, mentioned their shorter writing as an afterthought. There are, of course, notable exceptions. US-American literary culture famously holds its tradition of short story writing in high regard – many European writers of short fiction in English in fact published their work in US magazines. In recent decades, however, critics have increasingly turned their attention to the European short story in English and have begun to consider it for its historical and formal distinctiveness.

The period at the beginning of the last century we now call ‘modernism’ was an especially productive time for the British short story, and the form played an important role as a site of creative experimentation for many writers who considered themselves to be part of a new literary avant-garde. James Joyce’s Dubliners, his collection of vignettes on the state of Dublin at the beginning of the century, is widely acknowledged as one of the works that introduced some of the styles we now recognize as ‘modernist’. Virginia Woolf, too, although mostly famous for her longer prose, appreciated the short story form for its seemingly endless creative possibilities. And Katherine Mansfield, coming to London from New Zealand at a very young age, even dedicated the whole of her creative energy to writing short prose fiction.

In this course, we will focus on select short stories by Joyce, Woolf, and Mansfield, and consider them alongside stories by E. M. Forster, an author often excluded from the ‘modernist canon’ for his perceived lack of formal experimentation and innovation. In particular, we will examine and question the notion of the ‘epiphany’ in short fiction and address the (im-)possibilities of defining and delineating ‘modernism’ as either an historical period or a set of formal features.

Please note:

Personal attendance during the first session is mandatory to maintain enrolment status. Please direct all inquiries about vacancies to britlit.fragen.fk15tu-dortmundde.

The course starts in the second week (17.10.23).

All required reading will be made available online at the beginning of term.

Course assessment will be offered in the form of:

• short essay & presentation
• term paper