01   S 1-3:55 pm      CAC    73195    GILMARTIN    MU-113

In this class we will be looking at realism and naturalism as modes of fictional representation, but also as products of particular American literary cultures that existed during the dynamic and disruptive period between 1865-1910. Some of the questions we will explore: What is at stake for the creation of a national literature both in its relation to the local region and to the assumption of global power? How does literature construct its relation to reality during Reconstruction and its aftermath?  How is the circulation of literature in magazines affected by the rise of consumer culture or the emergence of the New Woman?  How does literature attempt to apprehend and respond to the challenges of rapid social change such as increasing urbanization, industrialization and immigration?

We will be examining a variety of genres, which may include the short story, the novel, local color, the travel narrative, criticism, poetry, utopian fiction, and the historical novel. Writers we will study may be Adams, Cable, Cather, Chopin, Crane, Chestnutt, Du Bois, Dunbar, Gilman, Hopkins, Howells, James, Jewett, London, Norris, Twain, and Wharton.

Regular attendance and participation is expected. Occasional ungraded responses, two short papers, a midterm, a final and a small archival project are required.