The City in Literature: freedom and flappers in the bohemian city

What is the course about?

We’ll explore three roman a clèf novels, beginning with Ernest Hemingway’s breakthrough modernist masterpiece about his life as an aspiring writer in 1920s Paris, The Sun Also Rises; turn our attention to Jean Rhys’ novella of 1928, Quartet, based upon her experience of an extra-marital affair with modernist writer, Ford Maddox Ford; shifting to Christopher Isherwood’s 1939 semi-autobiographical, Goodbye to Berlin, set between 1929-1932, and inspiration for the film Cabaret, we’ll explore the representations of life leading up to the dissolution of the Weimar Republic.

The course will consider how life for these writers in these cities can be represented in a range of forms from memoir, vignette, novella, and short story, exploring what is at stake in writing a roman a clèf. We’ll follow the fortunes of three flappers, Lady Brett Ashley, Marya Zelli, and the charismatic Sally Bowles. We’ll not only examine the spatial geography of the streets of the city, its sounds and smells, but how these trajectories unleash new freedoms, existential anxieties, and haunting memories. What does it mean to live in a changing modern European city during a period of artistic experimentation, political factionalism, and racial prejudice? We’ll discuss bohemian life, gender and sexuality, and coming of age.

Tutor biography:
Alexander Fairbairn-Dixon
Alexander has taught advanced Literature and English Language for over twenty-five years. A former Head of English, Alexander currently teaches Literature courses to adults at The Questors Theatre, Ealing, and at a 6th Form College in Kensington. He holds an MA distinction in Shakespeare Studies, a PGCE, an English Literature BA (hons.), and a DipEngl in English Language. An FRSA, he brings a passionate commitment to life-long learning, to making connections between disciplines, and to creating supportive and engaging learning environments. Alexander is writing a book on the critical reception of JG Ballard.

What will we cover?

We will explore the following:
Ernest Hemingway, 1926, The Sun Also Rises, Vintage Classics, ISBN 978-0-593466346
Jean Rhys, Quartet, 1928, Penguin Modern Classics, ISBN 978-0-141-18392-3
Christopher Isherwood, Goodbye to Berlin, 1939, Vintage, ISBN 978-0749390549
Further Extracts will be provided from a range of sources: historical, biographical, other writings within the an oeuvre, and literary criticism.

We will pay close attention to language and its effects, and consider how historical, political and aesthetic contexts can inform our appreciation of world-building in fiction, non-fiction, and how the two can be blended. Balancing accessibility with intellectual stimulation, we shall link the texts to key concepts and discussions of life writing, the psychogeography of the city, narrative world-building, the role of a ‘milieu’, changing fashions and new technology, bohemian life, and the representations of social customs, beliefs and transgressions .

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

Understand and define some of the ways in which the language of the writers build representations of the city, its psychogeography, the role of ‘flappers’, how space and time are anchors for the reader, and how the sounds, trajectories and smells of the bohemian city are brought to life, and how these texts are linked to their contexts.

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

The course is open to all; you do not need to have prior knowledge of these texts to participate.

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

You will be taught through close reading of set extracts, a combination of short lectures, group work, and class discussion.

It is recommended that you read the novels and extracts before the relevant class for maximum enjoyment, starting with Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises, Jean Rhys, Quartet, and then, Christopher Isherwood’s, Goodbye to Berlin.

You may be given optional guided reading tasks to aid understanding or to prepare for a class.

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

You will need to buy or borrow:
Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises, 1926, Vintage, ISBN 978-0-593466346
Jean Rhys, Quartet, 1928, Penguin Modern Classics, ISBN 978-0-141-18392-3
Christopher Isherwood, Goodbye to Berlin, 1939, Vintage, ISBN 978-0749390549

The tutor will provide additional materials.
You will need to bring a notebook and pen.

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

Look for other literature courses on our website under History, Culture and Writing/Literature/Fiction at www.citylit.ac.uk.