| English 366
Topics in American Literature AMERICAN BEST SELLERS Course Description (for seminar times & locations, scroll down) |
American dress of 1790-1800 from McClellan: man in a brown broadcloth "shad-belly" coat worn by a Mr. Johnson of Germantown, PA, c. 1790, mauve crepe gown worn by Mrs. Sartori, dress of fine glazed cambric worn by Mme. Chevalier, c. 1797, man in the style of 1800, Muslin dress worn by Deborah Logan of Philadelphia, 1797 |
What books have captivated the popular taste of the American reading public, and why? What can our reading of those works today tell us about the society that produced and then voraciously consumed them? These are the central questions that this course--a literary and historical survey of American best sellers--will investigate. We will examine roughly one text and historical period each week, working our way from the colonial period to the present, with special emphasis on the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Along the way we will encounter a wide range of styles and genres, including the tale of seduction, the historical romance, the sentimental novel, children's fiction, the western, the detective novel, and the adventure series. In our readings of both "high" and "low" popular texts--supplemented by a series of theoretical and contextual essays on American literature and popular culture--we will be especially concerned with vital corollary questions of audience, taste, and literary and cultural power. How have social and material conditions influenced the creation and reception of our best sellers? Why do established literary canons often exclude these texts? How do the narrative strategies of popular forms contribute to their power to move millions of readers? |
Godey's Lady's Book, September 1859 |
LECTURE:
Mondays, 1.0: 12:30-1:20 -- McCosh 10
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Women's Walking Costume, 1920s |
SEMINARS:
Seminars meet once a week for two hours. List of seminar times & locations: Monday, 1:30-3:20 p.m. -- A.M. Daniel -- McCosh B24
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Vogue, 1960s |
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