Summer Courses 2013

Description: This course studies American Literature between and beyond Walt Whitman’s “barbaric yawp” and the “howl” of Allen Ginsberg’s generation. It serves as an introduction to American Literature from 1865-1970, a period of remarkable economic, cultural, and imperial transformations that established the United States as a superpower of the twentieth century. Rapid transcontinental settlement, urbanization, industrialization, world war, and a shift from colonial to world power form the cultural and historical backdrop to this period of abundant and diverse literary production. In our study of the major works of this period, we will track the on-going life of foundational ideas in American literature and culture, and the way they are challenged, transformed, and adapted by writers who – because of their race, gender, and sexuality – did not always have a voice in “America.” These foundational ideas include: individualism, freedom, democracy, revolution, and rebellion. As we proceed chronologically through the works in the course, we will also note how changes in aesthetic form and genre affect and challenge previous ideas of “America,” and tune our discussions to racial, gender, and class politics implicit in the texts.

Texts:

Norton Anthology of American Literature 8^th Edition Volumes C, D, and E

Mark Twain, Pudd’nhead Wilson (also available on Project Gutenberg)

Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49

Recommended readings and listenings will be made available on MyCourses.

Evaluation:

In-class participation: 15%

Reading Quizzes (5 x 2%): 10%

Response Paragraphs (3 x 5%): 15%

Final Exam: 30%

Final Essay (1800-2000 words): 30%

 

Format: Lectures and discussion

Description: This course examines nine key 20th century plays with attention to formal, thematic, and historical concerns. In particular, we will consider the rise of naturalism as a dominant mode of writing and stagecraft in the period, and its relationship to the development of national theatres throughout Europe and North America. We take as our departure point Benedict Anderson’s assertion that nations are “imagined communities.” Anderson argues that the success of invented national communities depends on a body politic’s ability to recognize, identify with, and assert belonging to a nation. This is achieved through the creation of “image[s] of communion” (6). In this class, we will investigate how theatre creates, traffics, and contests these images of national communion.

Texts:

Eight Modern Plays (Norton Critical Edition edited by Anthony Caputi))

J. M. Synge, Playboy of the Western World

Michel Tremblay, Les Belles-Soeurs

Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

Brian Friel, Translations

Marie Jones, Stones in his Pockets

Evaluation:

Participation:15%

In-class Short Essay (June 13th):20%

Final Paper (6 pages, due July 4th):35%

Final Exam:30%

Format: Lecture, discussion, occasional in-class screenings.

Average enrollment: 50