Cultures and Countercultures: The American Novel after World War II

A study of the postwar American novel in the context of the intellectual history of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. We will read the postwar novel in relation to the affluent society, the vital center, the lonely crowd, the power elite, the one-dimensional man, the post-industrial society. Authors to be considered include Baldwin, Bellow, Ellison, Highsmith, McCarthy, O'Connor, Petry, Pynchon, and Roth. Two lectures and one discussion meeting weekly. Students should register for ENGL 0100J S01 and may be assigned to conference sections by the instructor during the first week of class.