Contemporary American Literature

Catalog description

This course will examine American literature from the past fifty years. It will explore what is distinctive or contemporary about the texts produced during this period, with an emphasis on how they both borrow and depart from earlier literary traditions. Issues the course considers may include the end of the Cold War and the new ideological divisions that emerged in its wake, the influence of rapidly evolving digital technologies, the development of experimental and radical techniques in various literary forms, the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity of the United States, the role of popular culture, including mass market genres such mystery, romance, and science fiction, as well as shifts in our understanding of gender roles and ethnic identities.