ENGL 40614 - The Nineteenth-Century American Novel

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

In this course we will read, discuss, and study selected American novels of significant importance within the 19th century, a time when the questions of what constitutes an authentically 'American' literature preoccupied many authors seeking to fashion and interrogate a specifically 'American' tradition. As we situate these novels within their historical and cultural contexts, we will consider the various reasons for their place within the canon of American literature, with an eye toward understanding better the works themselves and exploring several recurring themes of particular concern for American writers (freedom, democracy, American identity and national destiny, slavery and the problem of race, to name a few). At the same time, we will scrutinize the very nature of the literary canon and reflect on the nature and significance of this, or any, reading list. Even so, we will see that these authors share deep engagement with ideas and themes common to American literature and do so, through their art, in ways that seek both to teach and to delight. Authors we will study include Sedgwick (Hope Leslie), Douglass (Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave), Melville (Moby-Dick), Stowe (Uncle Tom's Cabin), Twain (Huckleberry Finn), and Chopin (The Awakening).

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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