Course details

Name: ENGL - 493

Title: SEMINAR IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Section: 01

Semester: Fall - 2016

Credits: 3

Description:
-----Taught by Jeffrey Gonzalez
What is postmodernism? What was it? Obviously, the term has had a cultural impact, now quite long after its heyday: book reviewers and literary critics still regularly use “postmodernist” or “postmodern” to describe certain techniques, modes, or concerns in fictional practice. At one point, this deployment would point to something cutting-edge, but its connotation has certainly changed.
While we must touch upon certain theoretical debates about postmodernism as a “cultural logic” (Frederic Jameson) or a “crisis in knowledge” (Jean-Francois Lyotard), we will be primarily interested in what the terms “postmodernist,” “postmodern,” or “postmodernism” allow us to do as we read and analyze these texts. We will think about what seems common to this body of literature to examine what unified the last major literary movement in the U.S.
Some questions we will ask throughout the semester:
--What aesthetic assumptions does this text make, and what usual assumptions about reading, fiction, etc. does it play with?
--How does this text interact with received traditions—about history, about morality, about character?
--As we review some of the criticism of postmodernist literature, how useful do we find the label? How do we understand the support for it and backlash against it?

Taught By Professor Jeffrey Gonzalez

Last updated on By Harrison Kim (harrisonk)

Schedule: Wednesday From 5:30 pm To 8:00 pm

Graduation requirements:

• Genre Study (Fiction)
• ()
• Other American (TE 1d)
• Post-1900 (1d)
• Ethnic Studies (3b)

Teaching Faculty: Staff English Dept. (staff)

Is course canceled: No