Welcome to ENGL 3700, Studies in the Contemporary Novel
This section of ENGL 3700 will consider what I’m calling “The New American Mythology” in American novels after World War II. Subjects will include the narratives that make up “America” for better or worse, like race, religion, identity, gender, reproduction, beauty, war, and technoculture.
What does it mean to be alive in the new American century? What are the myths that guide American conceptions of reality after World War II? We will examine at least one novel(la) per decade beginning in 1950 through the early 21st century. What ideas inform “America” and how do these various expressions support, reevaluate, or undermine them? We will also consider the novel as a literary genre and how it has changed to support changing cultural expectations.
Required Texts
- Atwood, Margaret (2014) [1985]. The Handmaid’s Tale. New York: Library Edition.
- Baldwin, James (2013) [1953]. Go Tell It on the Mountain. New York: Vintage.
- DeLillo, Don (1998) [1985]. White Noise (9th ed.). New York: Viking Critical Library.
- Ishiguro, Kazuo (2006) [2005]. Never Let Me Go. New York: Vintage.
- Mailer, Norman (2013) [1965]. An American Dream. New York: Random House.
- Morrison, Toni (2007) [1970]. The Bluest Eye. New York: Vintage.
- Tiptree, James (1996) [1976]. Houston, Houston, Do You Read?. New York: Doubleday Book. (Will be available as a PDF.)
- Vonnegut, Kurt (1999) [1969]. Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel. New York: Dial Press.
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