Christopher and his Kind: Christopher Isherwood in Berlin

What is the course about?

In this in-person course we will explore the way in which Isherwood combines fiction with autobiography. The narrator of the novel Goodbye to Berlin is named ‘Christopher Isherwood’, and in his foreword Isherwood warns the reader not to infer from this that his book is an autobiography. In his autobiography Christopher and His Kind, he claims that the book is ‘frank and factual’, and yet it reads like a novel, with scenes and dialogue Isherwood couldn’t have remembered forty years later.

We will also consider the impact of the gay liberation movement in the 1970s and Isherwood’s depiction of queer experience. In Goodbye to Berlin, Herr Issyvoo is depicted as a sexless ‘camera’ recording the love affairs of the other characters, whereas in Christopher and His Kind, Isherwood writes openly about his affair with the young man who inspired the character of Otto Nowak.

Author biography: Dr Jake Poller has taught in the English department at Queen Mary University of London for over ten years. He has published many peer-reviewed articles, chapters in edited collections, as well as three books, including critical biographies of Aldous Huxley and Christopher Isherwood for Reaktion Books.

What will we cover?

We will explore the exciting new genre of autofiction, a form of life writing that mingles fiction and autobiography, and think about how this applies to Isherwood’s work. We will also consider the attitudes to homosexuality in the 1930s, and the constraints this imposed on queer writers such as Isherwood, and contrast this with the relative freedoms of the 1970s, when Isherwood became a figurehead for the gay liberation movement.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

• Appreciate the context of 1930s Berlin, which inspired Isherwood’s novel Goodbye to Berlin.
• Have an awareness of the genre of autofiction and how this applies to Isherwood’s work.
• Understand the constraints of queer writers in the 1930s.
• Appreciate the new freedoms won by the gay liberation movement in the 1970s and how this influenced Isherwood’s autobiography Christopher and His Kind.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

This course is open to all; you do not need to have read any of Isherwood’s work prior to taking the course.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

In each session, there will be a short PowerPoint presentation, followed by a mixture of small- and larger-group work that focuses on specific issues and close reading.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

Please buy or borrow the following titles:

Christopher Isherwood, Goodbye to Berlin (Vintage, 1989)
Christopher Isherwood, Christopher and His Kind (Vintage, 2012). We will read excerpts from this autobiography, but you will get the most benefit from reading the whole book. I’ve listed the more recent editions, but any edition is fine.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

This tutor will be teaching a course on Aldous Huxley and his Contemporaries in Term One 2025 (dates tbc).
Look for other literature courses on our website under History, Culture and Writing/Literature at www.citylit.ac.uk.