ENG143

A critical study of American literary history from the early national period throughthe Gilded Age. Students examine a wide range of texts in relation to key historical phenomena and events. These historical concerns provide a context for understanding the work of literature in constructions of the nation and ofAmerican identity. Special emphasis is placed on writing by African American and Native American authors working within and against dominant literary traditions. Texts, authors, and themes may differ across iterations of the course, but students consider--along with key genres and aesthetic impulses--racial formations in American literature; gender roles, "separate spheres" ideology, and nineteenth-century feminisms; dialectical relations of violence and civic belonging; and constructions of urban, rural, and frontier spaces.