19th Century American Fiction I examines major developments in literary expression and their relations to broader cultural and political developments in the first half of the 19th century. The goal here is to gain a deeper understanding of the period and its literary products by analyzing the ways in which significant literary texts embody and reflect the changing concerns of the Americans.
Instructor : Sotirios Bampatzimopoulos
A brief introduction to the course.
Explanation of the course schedule.
Explanation of how the students are expected to study and actively participate in the classroom.
A very brief history of the colonization of the American continent.The formation of the American nation.
Introduction to American identity.
Read: Introduction and chapter 11 ("Space New and Old") from Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities.
Differences between America and Europe (according to Crevecoeur).
Types of American (according to Crevecoeur).
The social landscape of early 19th century (according to Crevecoeur).
Read: "What Is an American?" from Crevecoeur's Letters from an American Farmer (1782)
Basic concepts and ideas of Romanticism in Europe and the American Content in 19th century.
What is Gothic literature?
Analysis and interpretation of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving.
Read: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820) by Washington Irving
Early stages of the American identity.
Fiction and reality.
Analysis and interpretation of " Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving.
Read: Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" (1819)
Higher education, newspapers and reading habits in America in early 19th century.
Read: "Notions of the Americans" (1823) by James Fenimore Cooper
The effect of the frontier in the development of the American identity.
Read: "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" (1893) by Frederick Jackson Turner
The process of writing according to Edgar Allan Poe.
Read: "The Philosophy of Composition" (1846) and "The Raven" (1845) by Edgar Allan Poe
Analysis and interpretation of "Ligeia" (1838) by Edgar Allan Poe.
Read: "Ligeia" (1838) by Edgar Allan Poe
Analysis and interpretation of "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe (1846).
Read: "The Cask of Amontillado" (1846) by Edgar Allan Poe
Analysis and interpretation of "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" (1831) by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Read: "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" (1831) by Nathaniel Hawthorne