Professor Julia Eichelberger. Fulfills the American Literature requirement. Meets at the College of Charleston, Monday, 6-8:45 p.m.
Special Topic in American Literature
In this course, we will place several works by Welty and Faulkner in conversation with each other and with texts by others who have lived in and written about the region since 1930, the publication date of Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. Welty and Faulkner were both innovative modernists whose literary artistry and ideas continue to influence writers inside and outside the region. We will explore texts by these Mississippi writers alongside works by others who have challenged received ideas—about the South, race and the legacy of slavery, womanhood and manhood, religion, the natural world, and the individual’s relationship to family and community. Making a wide range of artistic choices, these writers offer an array of interpretations of the region—its past and present, its beauties and terrors, and the inner lives of people who live here. Research into these writers’ historical contexts will encourage students to consider how best to write about the South—as literary critics or as professional or creative writers—so as to dispel harmful stereotypes and promote a deeper understanding of the region’s full and complex history. Students will also benefit from attending sessions at the Eudora Welty Society conference, which will be held at the College of Charleston, February 21-23, 2019.
Texts by Welty and Faulkner will be put in conversation with other Southern writers, including Harlan Greene, Yusef Komunyakaa, Flannery O’Connor, Natasha Trethewey, Richard Wright, and Jesmyn Ward. Assignments will include several short papers and class presentations, as well as a longer research project.
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