Spring 2026
ENGLISH 45C 001 - LEC 001
Literature in English: The Mid-19th through the Mid-20th Century
Steven Sunwoo Lee
Class #:22048
Units: 4
Instruction Mode:
In-Person Instruction
Offered through
English
Current Enrollment
Total Open Seats:
-2
Enrolled: 172
Waitlisted: 0
Capacity: 170
Waitlist Max: 50
No Reserved Seats
Hours & Workload
1 hours of the exchange of opinions or questions on course material per week, 9 hours of outside work hours per week, and 2 hours of instructor presentation of course materials per week.
Final Exam
TUE, MAY 12TH
11:30 am - 02:30 pm
Latimer 120
Other classes by Steven Sunwoo Lee
Course Catalog Description
Historical survey of literature in English: the mid-19th through the mid-20th century.
Class Description
This course will provide an overview of the aesthetic shifts captured by such terms as realism, modernism, and postmodernism, with an emphasis on the relation between literary form and historical context. We will explore how literature responds to the pressures of industrialization, war, and empire, as well as to an ever-growing awareness of a diverse, interconnected world. Attention will also be paid to the relation between literature and other forms of cultural expression, e.g., painting, music, and film.
Class Notes
Required Texts:
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890); Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1902); Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse (1927); Nathanael West, The Day of the Locust (1939); Vladimir Nabokov, Pnin (1957); Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (1965); Ling Ma, Severance (2018)
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890); Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1902); Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse (1927); Nathanael West, The Day of the Locust (1939); Vladimir Nabokov, Pnin (1957); Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (1965); Ling Ma, Severance (2018)
Rules & Requirements
Credit Restrictions
Offered for 4 units in fall and in spring, 3 units in summer.
Repeat Rules
Course is not repeatable for credit.
Requirements class fulfills
Meets Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth
Reserved Seats
Reserved Seating For This Term
Current Enrollment
No Reserved Seats
Textbooks & Materials
See class syllabus or https://calstudentstore.berkeley.edu/textbooks for the most current information.
Guide to Open, Free, & Affordable Course Materials