American Outlaws and Outcasts

Catalog description

Exploration of American literature from a cultural perspective, particularly its fascination with characters who transgress, manipulate and confront the boundaries that demark American culture. We will focus on a variety of figures who are both powerful and marginal: writers, criminals, clowns and lovers. We will compare America's painted and tainted ladies with its masked lone rangers to see what difference gender makes in the terms and consequences of their isolation.