Course code:
This class focuses on US. fiction from the realist/naturalist period (roughly 1860-1920), a time when enormous changes were occurring in and on the U.S. landscape. Increasing urbanization, immigration, and industrialization corresponded both with a desire for ‘realistic’ fiction of social problems, and nostalgic stories of a more ‘realistic’ rural life. For the first time there was a national literature, resulting from the capabilities of large publishing houses, urban centers and mass production—but this national literature was acutely self-conscious of regional differences, and especially of the tension between city and country. Examining works that portray factory towns, urban tenements, midwestern prairies, New England villages, and the broad spectrum of U.S. landscapes of the period, we look at how a complex, turbulent, multi-ethnic, and simultaneously urban and rural American culture defined itself, and thus its gender, class, race, and social relations, and sense of values, against these landscapes. There is a strong emphasis on reading, writing, and discussion. Students will write and revise three critical analyses over the course of the term. Given that the class covers a lot of intellectual and historical ground, students will also do a short fiction project and develop a research paper on their author, landscape, and historical moment. Evaluation will be based on class participation, the writing process for the critical analyses, and the proposal, presentation, and research paper for the short fiction project.
Prerequisites:
None.
Always visit the Registrar's Office for the official course catalog and schedules.
