Admission requirements
Successful completion of Literature 1A, 1B, 2 and 3 or equivalent.
Description
Although the U.S. did not enter the war until 1917, World War I was a watershed in American culture. Marking the end of the old order, the “Great War” gave rise to feelings of both alienation and liberation. Young authors like Pound, Eliot, Hemingway, and Faulkner attest to the widespread sense of anxiety and uncertainty. While their works reflect a longing for the values and traditions of a “lost” civilization, they also seize the opportunity to break with literary conventions and “make it new.” These American writers responded and gave shape to the international Modernist movement that had emerged in Europe in the early 1900s. Modernist symbols such as T.S. Eliot’s “Waste Land,” mythological motifs, and experimental literary techniques such as fragmentation, shifting perspectives, and “stream of consciousness” as well as the new medium of film had a profound impact on American (and European) literature throughout the twentieth century, as modernism gradually shaded into postmodernism after World War II. Reading works by male and female, white, black and Chicana authors, we will also study the ways in which changing perceptions of gender, race, and ethnicity inform the literature of multi-ethnic and multicultural America. We’ll also study the New Journalism of the 1960s, new media such as the graphic novel, and recent post-9/11 literature in the context of trauma theory.
Course objectives
The course aims to offer students:
knowledge of and insight into the defining characteristics of modernism and postmodernism (and the relationship between the two) in American literature from 1917 to the present
the ability to place the texts we read in a wider cultural and historical context, such as (post)modernism in the arts, the counter-culture, the civil rights movement, and 9/11, as well as the cultural debates to which they gave rise.
And enables themto further develop textual analysis skills and also apply them to other media such as the graphic novel.
an introduction to trauma theory and its basic concepts.
Timetable
The timetable will be available by June 1st on the website
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Course Load
The course load of this course is 280 hours.
hours spent on attending lectures and seminars: 30
time for studying the compulsory literature: 180
time to prepare for the exam and/or write a paper (including research): 70
Assessment method
Research proposal for essay + essay (3500 words) (50 %)
written exam (Closed and essay questions) (50%)
The final grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average
Resit: if the final grade is insufficient, students have to retake the exam in January or rewrite the essay.
Attendance is compulsory. Unauthorized absence will mean that you cannot take part in the relevant exam(s).
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used to provide students with an overview of current affairs, as well as specific information about (components of) the course.
Reading list
Norton Anthology of American Literature (NAAL), 8th ed. volumes D and E (Norton)
Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises (Scribner)
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby (Penguin)
Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Vintage)
Morrison, Toni. Beloved (Penguin)
Cisneros, Sandra. The House On Mango Street (Vintage).
Spiegelman, Art. Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale (Pantheon)
Foer, Jonathan Safran. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Penguin).
Note: Purchase of these books is required and the assigned texts have to be brought to class. Make sure you have the edition listed above!
Registration
Enrollment through uSis is mandatory. If you have any questions, please contact the departmental office, tel. 071 5272144 or mail: english@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Registration Studeren à la carte
Registration Contractonderwijs
Contact details
English Language and Culture student administration, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 102C. Tel. 071 5272144; english@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Coordinator of studies: Ms T.D. Obbens, MA, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 103C.
Remarks
This is the third of three survey courses in American literature (Lit 3a, 4a, and 5a), which can also be taken independently. The course is also part of the pre-master track in North American Studies.