According to the Pew Research Trust, ten percent of Americans report feeling lonely all or most of the time, a figure that remains consistent across gender, racial and ethnic, and age groups. In 2023, the Surgeon General of the United States called escalating social isolation a national health crisis, issuing a lengthy report entitled “Our Epidemic of Loneliness" to promote awareness of and solutions to this pervasive problem.
What can the novel tell us about the affects of loneliness, and does its insight into fictional lives offer any remediation for those experiencing this emotion? In the spring 2025 section of ENG 4730/31, we will read three novels -- Charlotte Brontë's Villette, Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being, and Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun -- all of which portray loneliness as a central dilemma of contemporary life. We will also read excerpts of criticism and journalism on the "epidemic" of loneliness from Hannah Arendt, Faye Bound Alberti, Robert D. Putnam, Jenny Odell, Vivek H. Murthy and more, as we build our understanding of loneliness and how individuals and societies might make changes toward connection and abundance.
ENG 4730: Loneliness in the Novel, MWF 10-10:50, with Dr. Jennifer Wilson
ENG 4730: Loneliness in the Novel, MWF 10-10:50, with Dr. Jennifer Wilson