ENGL 361-01, American Realism and Naturalism, Fall 2015

Abstract

American Realism and Naturalism developed in part as a reaction against Romanticism brought on by post-Civil War disillusionment. However, there were other forces at work as well. Technological and scientific advancements, industrialism and urbanization, and a rapidly changing population of new immigrants, freed slaves and “new women” all led to an intellectual and aesthetic revolution that “came of age” in the writings of authors like Henry James, Kate Chopin and Charles Chesnutt. In this course, we will attempt to trace this intricate web of historical, cultural and aesthetic developments, considering how they grew out of the legacy of the Civil War but also how they propelled the nation toward modernity in the twentieth-century. Prerequisites: Any 200-level literature course or permission from instructor.