Title: TOPICS IN LITERATURE

PRQ:

This course explores both how the American South has been represented in U.S. literature and how the South established itself as one of the major cultural centers of the nation. We will read a few nineteenth-century pioneers of Southern literature but will focus especially upon fiction, poetry, drama, and literary non-fiction of the “Southern Renaissance” of the first half of the twentieth century, and then survey a few recent literary depictions of the region. Throughout the semester, we will also explore several non-literary representations of the South—including the songs of the Delta blues and Hollywood film.

The syllabus is still being finalized, but the shortlist of writers/artists likely to be studied includes Mark Twain, Kate Chopin, Thomas Nelson Page, Charles Chesnutt, Zora Neale Hurston, Carson McCullers, Charley Patton, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Sterling Brown, Geeshie Wiley, Richard Wright, Tennessee Williams, Flannery O’Connor, Wilbur Cash, James Agee, Walker Evans, Alice Walker, Bobbie Ann Mason, Larry Brown, and Jesmyn Ward.   

Possible films include: Hallelujah, They Won’t Forget, Jezebel, The Night of the Hunter, and Winter’s Bone.

Please contact the instructor if you have any questions about the course or require any additional details: tryan@niu.edu