AMST 372 - American Modernist Fiction

Institution:

Williams College

Subject:

American Studies

Description:

Modernism among writers began in the second half of the nineteenth century and continued through perhaps World War II; we shall concentrate on fiction from around the 1920s, by such writers as Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Toomer, Cather, and Stein. Modernism tends to be difficult and elitist, though such writers as Fitzgerald and Hemingway tried to make popular careers out of its methods. Its reception has always been controversial and paradoxical: modernism either unleashes revolutionary thinking or displaces it (and either alternative may be its value); it either allows expression to repressed forms of sexuality or re-represses them; it either registers new racial realities or is specifically designed to keep racial structures in place. In this tutorial we shall address both American modernist fiction and its reception, and thus will conduct a continuing investigation of the relation of obscure meaning and imputed historical significance.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

A 100-level English course, or a score of 5 on the Advanced Placement examination in English Literature or a 6 or 7 on the International Baccalaureate

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Other

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.williams.edu

Phone Number:

(413) 597-3131

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Four-one-four plan

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