ClassInfo

From the Cold War and the social movements of the 1960s to the rise of digital culture and the political instability of today, American life since World War II has been characterized by tumult and upheaval. How have American writers responded to the vast social and political challenges of this chaotic period? How have authors handled the emergence of rivals to literature's cultural primacy in the form of new media such as cinema, television, and the Internet? What are the major movements, trends, and genres in American literature from the postwar period to today? To answer these questions, our course will provide a historical survey of American fiction from the mid-twentieth century to the current decade. We will situate short stories, novellas, and novels in their social and historical contexts even as we analyze their artistic qualities to learn how literature remains relevant to our ever-changing society. Finally, as this is a writing-intensive course, we will focus on responding to literature in written argument.