ENGL 459: Topics in Transatlantic and/or World Literature

This course's collection of dystopic fictions provides a sort of practical survival manual in the face of global catastrophe. In addition to illustrating how local and federal governments on both sides of the Atlantic might reprioritize in the face of cataclysmic events, these novels examine the microcosms of familial and communal relationships and consider the various ways they respond to prolonged strain. They also analyze the stress points in the individual mind and body, and explore how sustained tension can exploit the nearly invisible fissures in our identities and values.