EH 676: American Literature and Culture

Prof. Michelle Burnham
Winter 1996
email: burnhmi@mail.auburn.edu
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sentimentalism and Imperialism in American Literature to 1865

This course centers around two of the most recently and hotly debated issues in American literary and cultural studies: the discourses of sentimentalism and imperialism. Through a wide variety of readings, including captivity narratives, sentimental novels, and slave narratives, we will study the emergence, development, and interpenetration of these discourses from colonial America through late Jacksonian and antebellum America. Among the central issues for discussion will be the literary status of sentimental narrative then and now; the cultural politics of sympathy in the contexts of Indian wars, the Revolutionary War, Indian removal, and abolitionism; the rhetorical forms of empire; and the affective logic of nationalism. Other readings include contextual documents ranging from trial transcripts to presidential speeches, and selected works in feminist criticism and postcolonial theory which engage the issues of sentimentalism, imperialism, and nationalism.

In addition to providing focused study in the sentimental literature and culture of early America, this course will also provide an introduction to the changing discipline of early American studies. Recent work in cultural studies and feminist studies has raised both vexing and intriguing questions for Americanists: which texts do Americanists study and teach and why? why does a persistent rhetoric of exceptionalism inflect narratives of American literary history? how have we defined America in the past, and how should we define it now? how should we understand the relations between the canonical, the marginal, and the popular? how should we understand the relationship between colonial America and the postcolonial American nation? We will devote one class meeting to a discussion of the shifting terrain of American studies. But to the extent that these questions impact our understanding of the narratives and novels that constitute our primary reading, they will be at issue throughout the quarter.

TEXTS

Requirements and Grading

  • class report (8-10 pages): 20%
  • bibliography: 15%
  • final paper (15-30 pages): 50%
  • participation in class discussion: 15%

    Class Report

    Each student will choose or be assigned a primary text on which s/he will present an oral, in-class report. There is considerable flexibility for the form of this report, from a teaching-oriented model to a conference paper model, from an informal discussion which incorporates dialogue with and questions to the class to a more formal presentation which is followed by discussion with the class. A printed copy of this report should be turned in on the day it is delivered.

    Bibliography

    A briefly annotated bibliography, of significant material relevant for study of a particular text or problem within the historical confines of the course, will be due at mid-quarter. The bibliography should be submitted in both hard copy and disk form; these will be compiled into a single bibliography which will be made available to the class as a whole. This assignment can serve also as a stage in your research for the final paper. One or two students may choose instead to compile an electronic bibliography of on-line research sources in American studies.

    Final Paper

    A critical and focused study of a text and/or theoretical problem is due on the final day of class. Ideally, this paper should reflect an understanding of, and be situated within, current criticism on your text and topic and should advance an original reading of your subject. Please see the handout on research papers for further research and writing strategies, and feel free to talk with me--the earlier in the quarter the better--if you have any questions about this assignment.

    Class Discussion

    The central topics of discussion in this course should develop to reflect the interests of its participants, and to this end each member of the seminar is expected to contribute to class discussion by raising issues in response to the readings, by responding to students' class reports, and by asking questions frequently and freely. In addition, there will be two shorter reserve readings, individually assigned, which seminar members will be responsible for informally describing and discussing in class.

    Schedule of Meetings and Readings

    Fri. 1/5
    Introduction/s
    Tue. 1/9
    Trials of Anne Hutchinson (CP)
    Anderson (chapters 1-5)
    Fri. 1/12
    Rowlandson (in VanDerBeets)
    Anderson (chapters 6, 8, 10, 11)
    Reserve/optional: Armstrong and Tennenhouse, chapter 8
    Tue. 1/16
    Mather on Dustan (CP)
    Briton Hammon (CP)
    Marrant, Kinnan (both in VanDerBeets)
    Bhabha, "DissemiNation," "The Other Question"
    Reserve/optional: The History of Maria Kittle
    Fri. 1/19
    Charlotte Temple
    Manheim Anthology (in VanDerBeets)
    Reserve/optional: Michael Warner, chapter 2
    Tue. 1/23
    Charlotte Temple
    Slavoj Zizek (CP)
    Fri. 1/26
    Equiano (in Gates ed.)
    Gates (CP)
    Tue. 1/30
    Equiano
    Bhabha, "Of Mimicry and Man," "Signs Taken for Wonders"
    Reserve/optional: Pratt, chs. 1 and 5
    Fri. 2/2
    Edgar Huntly
    Freud (CP)
    Tue. 2/6
    Edgar Huntly
    Bhabha, "The Commitment to Theory"
    Fri. 2/9
    American Studies: Past, Present, and Future (assigned reserve reading)
    BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE
    Tue. 2/13
    Hope Leslie
    Reserve/optional: Jackson's presidential speeches
    Fri. 2/16
    Hope Leslie
    Tue. 2/20
    Uncle Tom's Cabin
    assigned critical reading on reserve (Douglas, Tompkins, Wexler, Sanchez-Eppler, Brown, Cherniavsky, Smith)
    Fri. 2/23
    Uncle Tom's Cabin
    assigned critical reading on reserve (Baldwin, Garrison, Washington, Douglass, Nesbit, Williams, Lincoln)
    Tue. 2/27
    "The Subject and Power" (CP)
    Discipline and Punish
    Fri. 3/1
    Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (in Gates ed.)
    Carby (CP)
    Reserve/optional: bell hooks, ch. 1; Houston Baker, ch. 1
    Tues. 3/5
    Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
    Probyn
    Fri. 3/8 FINAL PAPERS DUE

    BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ONLINE RESOURCES

    Collections of Texts
    Most of the home pages of these collections also refer to other collections and related pages.

    MAILING LISTS

    AMLIT-L
    The American Literature Discussion has been created for the discussion of topics and issues in field of American Literature. Consultations, conferences, and an ongoing exchange of information among scholars and students of American Literature can be expected on this list. To subscribe, send a generic subscription message ("SUBSCRIBE AMLIT-L Your Name"). Send other questions to List Owner(s): Michael O'Conner.

    NATIVE-LIT-L
    For the discussion of Native American Literature. For the purposes of this list, "native" refers to autochthonous peoples of the North Americas (the US, Canada, and Mexico) and neighboring islands, including Hawaii. Discussions in this list are open to any aspect of native literature. The list welcomes book reviews, articles about poetry, fiction, and criticism; information about publications, talks, conferences; and general chit-chat about native literature. While different points of view are always welcome, flamers will be deleted from the subscription list without notice.To subscribe, send a generic subscription message ("Subscribe native-lit-l Your Name"). List Owner(s):Michael Wilson

    AFAM-L
    African American Research. Forum for exchange of information, ideas, and concerns of African American Studies and of African Americans. To subscribe, send a generic subscription message ("SUBSCRIBE AFAM-L Your Name"). List Owner(s): Paula Roper

    EARAM-L -- Society of Early Americanists
    To subscribe to EARAM-L, send a generic subscription message.

    LASNET
    Latin American Studies Network. This is an electronic mailing list of over 300 Latin Americanists, both here in the U.S. and abroad. The objective of LASNET is to facilitate the transmission of information among Latin Americanists. If you want to be a member of LASNET, please send the following information so that the coordinators can include you in the LASNET Directory and in the master electronic mailing list: Name (and Title); Institutional Affiliation; Street (or Post Office) Mailing Address; Telephone No.; Interests; Electronic Mailing Address(es). To subscribe: Send a note requesting subscription. List Owner(s): Ning Lin.

    WWP-L
    Brown University Women Writer's Project. To subscribe: Send a generic subscription message ("SUBSCRIBE WWP-L Your Name"). List Owner(s): Elaine Brennan.

    POSTCOLONIAL on majordomo@lists.village.virginia.edu
    POSTCOLONIAL is an electronic forum for discussion and experimentation rooted in postcolonial literature, film, and theory. POSTCOLONIAL is an open list - all interested parties are invited and encouraged to participate. Specific information about the list is below. To subscribe to POSTCOLONIAL, send the message: subscribe postcolonial. To post a message to POSTCOLONIAL, [click].

    The (im)propriety of the term "postcolonial" will hopefully be addressed on the list. For now: "We use the term 'post-colonial'...to cover all the culture affected by the imperial process from the moment of colonization to the present day" (Bill Ashcroft, et al. _The Empire Writes Back_. 1989). Postcolonial literature and film generally includes the cultural productions emerging out of the experience of colonization.

    Postcolonial theory and criticism interrogates the relations between culture and imperialism. It frequently is concerned with creating agency for the marginalized and with recovering lost cultural histories. Feminist questions are, of course, germane to this discussion. The roles of academia and the Internet in postcolonial power relations merit discussion as well.

    A list of representative authors and directors might include:

    *LITERATURE*: Chinua Achebe, George Lamming, Aime Cesaire, Sara Suleri, Salman Rushdie, Buchi Emecheta, Jamaica Kincaid, Michelle Cliff, Marguerite Duras, Farida Karodia, Ayi Kwei Armah, Nuruddin Farah, Nadine Gordimer, Bessie Head, V.S. Naipaul, Wole Soyinka, Simone Schwarz-Bart, Derek Walcott, Anita Desai, Hanif Kureishi, C.L.R. James, etc.

    *FILM*: Claire Denis, Ketan Mehta, Farida Ben Lyazid, Ken Loach, Peter Ormrod, Horace Ove, Srinivas Krishna, Ousmane Sembene, Gurinder Chada, Pratibha Parmar, the Sankofa Film Collective, Mira Nair, Marguerite Duras, etc.

    *THEORY*: Homi Bhabha, Partha Chatterjee, Amilcar Cabral, Frantz Fanon, Ranajit Guha, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Edward Said, Trinh T. Minha, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Abdul Jan Mohamed, etc.

    This is an "open list" -- posts on all aspects of the above issues and more will be welcomed. It is open to general discussion, group readings of published works, the sharing and critique of participants' works-in-progress, and creative appropriations of the texts across a variety of disciplines.

    Please address any questions, comments, or concerns that are not appropriate for the list as a whole to the owner.

    Teaching the American Literatures (T-AMLIT)
    "Teaching the American Literatures" is an electronic conference and discussion list dedicated to talking about innovative and effective ways to teach a radically expanded American literature. T-AMLIT is a moderated listserv discussion group that includes both free form discussion on topics of interest to students and teachers of American literature, as well as electronic seminars and special topics sessions on topics ranging from "Teaching Native American Literature" to "Integrating Internet Resources into the American Literature Classroom." To subscribe, send the message: sub T-AMLIT your name.

    H-AMSTDY AMERICAN STUDIES LIST
    Subscribers: 1746; Archive searching: open to everyone; Who can join: by approval; Country: USA; Site: Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1042; Computerized administrator: listserv@msu.edu; Human administrator; To send mail to the group; You can subscribe to this group by sending the message "sub H-AMSTDY your name".

    EARAM-L@KENTVM.KENT.EDU
    The Society of Early Americanists To subscribe, send a standard subscription message ("SUBSCRIBE EARAM-L Your Name").

    AmArt-L --American Art History Discussion List
    AmArt-L is a new, moderated electronic discussion list devoted to scholarly and intellectual discussions of topics of specific interest to historians and scholars of American art. AmArt-L treats American art, artifacts, architecture and related topics from the colonial period to the present. Scholars from other fields with similar interests are welcome to subscribe. To subscribe, send a message, leave the subject line blank, and include a message reading: SUB AMART-L YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME Your mail will be processed by a piece of software, not a human, so do not include anything else in the message. AmArt-L is Moderated by: Susan Luftschein Andrea Pappas Art History Dept. Art History Dept. Graduate Center School of Fine Arts City University of New York University of Southern California List Advisor: Sally Webster: Professor and Chair, Art Department, Lehman College and Graduate Center, City University of New York

    H-CIVWAR
    Topic Information: H-Net US Civil War History discussion list Subscription Information: Edited? Yes Archives: Private Contact Address: fd78@jove.acs.unt.edu - bb05196@bingvmb.cc.binghamton.edu Submission Address: H-CIVWAR@uicvm.cc.uic.edu Keywords: Civil War (United States) VR: 9th Revision 1/1/95

    H-ETHNIC
    Topic Information: American ethnic & immigration history Subscription Information: listserv@uicvm.uic.edu Edited? Yes Archives: Yes Contact Address: campbelld@lynx.apsu.edu Submission Address:H-ETHNIC@uicvm.uic.edu Keywords: History (American) - Immigration History VR: 9th Revision 1/1/95

    H-LAW
    Topic Information: Legal history & U.S. constitutional history Subscription Information: listserv@uicvm.uic.edu Edited? Yes Archives: Private Contact Address: cfcrw@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu Submission Address: H-LAW@uicvm.uic.edu Keywords: History (American) - Legal History VR: 9th Revision 1/1/95

    H-LATAM
    Topic Information: Latin American History discussion list. Subscription Information: LISTSERV@uicvm.uic.edu Edited? Yes Archives: Yes Contact Address: HLATAM@SNYCORVA.CORTLAND.EDU - HI23AHG@MAILHOST.TCS.TULANE.EDU - U12923@uicvm.uic.edu Submission Address: H-LATAM@uicvm.uic.edu Keywords: History (Latin America) VR: 9th Revision 1/1/95

    H-POL
    Topic Information: Political history. Subscription Information: listserv@uicvm.uic.edu Edited? Yes Archives: Yes Contact Address: pknupfer@ksu.ksu.edu Submission Address: H-POL@uicvm.uic.edu Keywords: History of Politics - Political History VR: 9th Revision 1/1/95

    H-SHGAPE
    Topic Information: H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era List Subscription Information: listserv@uicvm.cc.uic.edu Edited? Yes Archives: Private Contact Address: CHERNY@mercury.SFSU.EDU - KAL6444@TNTECH.EDU Submission Address:H-SHGAPE@uicvm.cc.uic.edu Keywords: Gilded Age - Progressive Era

    H-SOUTH
    Topic Information: An international forum for historians of the US South. There are no chronological boundaries. The primary purpose of H- SOUTH is to enable historians to easily communicate current research and teaching interests; to discuss new approaches, methods and tools of analysis; to test new ideas and share comments on current historiography. H-SOUTH will be especially interested in methods of teaching history to graduate and undergraduate students in diverse settings. It has been endorsed by the Southern Historical Association. Subscription Information: listserv@uicvm.uic.edu Edited? Yes Archives: Private Contact Address: Terry FinneganFINNEGAN@NCSA.UIUC.EDU Submission Address:H-SOUTH@uicvm.uic.edu Keywords: History (Southern United States) VR: 9th Revision 1/1/95

    H-URBAN
    Topic Information: Urban History discussion list. Subscription Information: listserv@uicvm.uic.edu Edited? Yes Archives: Yes Contact Address:Alan Mayne Submission Address: H-URBAN@uicvm.uic.edu Keywords: History (Urban) VR: 9th Revision 1/1/95

    H-WEST
    Topic Information: H-Net Western History List Subscription Information: listserv@uicvm.cc.uic.edu Edited? Yes Archives: Private Contact Address: ewest@comp.uark.edu Submission Address: H-WEST@uicvm.cc.uic.edu Keywords: History (Western) VR: 9th Revision 1/1/95

    EH676: CLASS BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TOPICS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE

    Table of Contents

    A. Native Americans, Anglo-Americans and Popular Culture

    B. The Novel in the Context of Insanity, Epistolarity, and Romance

    C. Indian Removal and the Mexican War

    D. Slave Narratives: Autobiography, Selfhood, and Identity

    For comments or corrections contact Lisa J. Smith at smithli@mail.auburn.edu.

    MANY thanks to Nick Backscheider!