The class will consist of four components, labeled roughly Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian and “Central European”. Within each component we will read one book-length text written during the time of Yugoslavia (defined broadly as 1918-1991) and one written during the first post-Yugoslav period (the decade of the 1990s, which witnessed the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia). Lectures will consider these works both as literary creations and as component parts of the complex historical phenomenon of Yugoslavia (both as a successful state and then as an arena of war). No prior knowledge of Yugoslav history is assumed, and all readings are in English. Requirements: four essays, final examination.

Texts for purchase David Albahari. Goetz and Meyer. Dalkey Archive Press, 2015. ISBN: 1628970928 .

Ivo Andrić. The Bridge on the Drina. University of Chicago Press, 1977. ISBN: 0226020452

Miljenko Jergović. Sarajevo Marlboro. Archipelago Books, 2003. ISBN: 0972869220

Danilo Kiš. A Tomb for Boris Davidovich. Dalkey Archive Press, 2001. ISBN: 1564782735

Miroslav Krleža. On the Edge of Reason. New Directions Publishing, 1995. ISBN: 0811213064

Available from used-book sellers on line:

Vladimir Arsenijević, In the Hold. Knopf, 1996.

Milos Tsernianski, Migrations. Harcourt, 1994.

Dubravka Ugrešić, Culture of Lies. Penn State University Press, 1998.

[these and any other texts will be made available on line] Prerequisites: None. Course and readings are in English.