American Literature and the Corporation

An examination of 19th-century American literature in the context of the rapid growth of corporate forms in American economic, political, and social life from the mid-1830s through the turn of the century. How does literature participate in the debate this process of incorporation occasioned, and in what ways was it shaped by the process of incorporation occasioned, and in what ways was it shaped by the process? Readings include Hawthorne, Melville, Harper, Grant, Alcott, Crane, and Chestnutt. Enrollment limited to 15.