David Lodge (1935) is a successful British playwright and screenwriter who has got several awards and titles. He has taught in the English department of University of Birmingham from 1960 until 1987, when he retired to become a full – time writer. As an academic critic his books are often about the lives and relationships of university teachers. He has adapted both his own work and other writers' novels for television. Small World was adapted as a television serial in 1988.
Small World: An Academic Romance (1984) is a parodying academic comedy, that consists of five parts. The characters are different academics — among them Persse McGarrigle, an Irishman who has recently completed his master’s dissertation on the poetry of T.S.Eliot, Italian professor Fulvia Morgana and German professor Siegfried von Turpitz and others— who travel around the world from one conference on literary criticism to another. The intrigue is introduced by a UNESCO chair of literary criticism that is desired by the leading characters of the book. The main subplot is a romantic love between Persse McGarrigle and Angelica Pabst, a PhD student who is studying romance.
According to the interview the reason why the author thought of using the Grail legend in Small World is the phenomenon of global academic travel.…
