ENGL 225 - American Literature, Origins to 1865

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

(Same as GNCS 225) What do we mean when we describe something as “American” or as “literature”? How are literary histories of America constructed? And why does literary history matter today? This course explores such questions in a study of early American literatures through the Civil War. We examine works in a range of genres, including Native American creation stories, colonial “histories” of exploration, Puritan primers, the seduction novel, anti-slavery periodicals, and sentimental fiction. Along the way, we consider how authors respond to historical pressures like settler colonialism and Native resistance, slavery and abolitionism, the founding of the nation, and the development of the literary marketplace. We also ask how literary texts shape our understanding of history and create the conditions for their reception as “American literature.” Material texts are an important method of inquiry for this class; we focus on early physical forms in which our readings circulated. To that end, we make two visits to Special Collections, and you are asked to explore digital archives relating to several readings. Blevin Shelnutt.

This course satisfies a pre-1800 or a pre-1900 requirement for the English major.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS