- to introduce students to major works of modern and 
postmodern literature, with special emphasis on the relevance 
of these texts to contemporary societies and cultures from 
around the world;
- to delineate the primary characteristics of the movements of
modernism and postmodernism in various parts of the world; 
-to situate the literary works within broad social and 
historical contexts; 
-to develop students' critical skills through the analysis of
individual works of literature;
- to improve students' communication through oral 
presentations and expository writing assignments.

Students' performances will be assessed through presentations,
papers, tests, and a final examination.

The course is structured through a series of readings in 
modern and postmodern literature, with special emphasis on the 
relevance of these texts to the contemporary world.  The 
topics covered include modernism and modernization; 
technology and the institution of literature; colonialism and
Euro-American modernism; postmodernism and the age of 
information; postcolonialism and the relevance of 
postmodernity; postmodernism as a social, political,
philosophical, and aesthetic category.  The works studied vary 
with the individual instructor. The following is a sample 
syllabus of readings for a single semester:

Kafka.  The Trial
Pound.  The Cantos (selections)
Proust.  Swann's Way
Faulkner.  Absalom, Absalom!
Pynchon.  Gravity's Rainbow
Okri.  The Famished Road
Garcia Marquez.  One Hundred Years of Solitude
Rushdie.  Midnight's Children
Abe.  Kangaroo Notebook

Students are required to abide by the University of Georgia academic honesty policy.