ENGL 362-01, Twentieth Century American Literature, Spring 1999

Abstract

In this course we will read and analyze selected works of American prose fiction published during the first half of the 20th Century (roughly 1900-1945). We will first explore the transition from 19th century realism to 20th century modernism, and then move on to consider the literary conventions that constitute the modernist dominant. This shift involves a move away from realistic representation, objectivity, and humanistic representation in favor of aesthetic self-consciousness, subjectivity, and spatial form. In analyzing these literary devices, we will also examine the material historical forces that inspired them.