Race and Place in Renaissance Literature

Reads early modern English drama, poetry, and prose depicting the migration of groups to foreign places (England, the Indies, the Americas) to consider how such writing defines the connection between space and identity. We will consider how this literature values environment as against blood, soil against seed, as determinants of identity capable of marking people as "strange," "alien," or "natural." Authors will include Marlowe, Shakespeare, Fletcher, Massinger, Drayton, Jonson, and Bacon. Enrollment limited to 15 graduate students. All others will be admitted only with permission of the instructor.