Annotation
LECTURE:
Colonial Period and the Revolution (Procházka, 8 weeks)
The course traces general tendencies in the process of establishing American literature. It combines historical and literary approaches with the main focus on the Puritan tradition and the literary achievements of the Revolution, and their most important representatives. The course also provides the students with elementary information about the political and historical aspects of American culture of 17th and 18th century.
SEMINAR:
OBJECTIVES
To give a survey of canonical works of 17th, 18th and 19th-century American literature. To focus both on individual texts and on broader issues: historical and political context, social and cultural change. The main emphasis is on Puritan writing, Federalism, Romanticism, Transcendentalism, the "new Americanness" starting with Walt Whitman, and on the poetry of Emily Dickinson.
MATERIAL
The Norton Anthology of American Literature, vol. 1
Some additional material, e.g. critical articles and essays, will be distributed in the class.
ASSESSMENT
Requirements include active participation and several oral presentations. There is a written test at the end of the course.