Topics in AMCS: Against History: American Writers and the National Past

As the United States ascended to a global superpower in World War II, the cultural politics of national history became increasingly important. Was America an exceptional country destined to lead the world? Was it willfully ignorant of its own failings? Could knowledge of history, whether inspiring or awful, produce a better society? Could creative writers imagine usable pasts that official archives had erased? This course explores how literary and historical writers answered these questions as they chronicle, revise, avoid, and attempt to transcend the national past. Offering an accessible introduction to debates in literary theory, American historiography, and the politics of memory, this class will help students understand contemporary debates over school curricula and The 1619 Project in light of broader political and cultural trajectories. Assigned writers, historians, and theorists expected to include Robert Hayden, Hannah Arendt, John Berryman, Perry Miller, Ishmael Reed, Sterling Stuckey, Gayl Jones, George Saunders, Nikole Hannah-Jones, and M. NourbeSe Philip.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU BA; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM

Topics in AMCS: Against History: American Writers and the National Past

ENGLISH LITERATURE 336C

Section 01