The American Short Story

Harvard FAS

This seminar will explore the American short story with a special focus on writers of the nineteenth century who were critical to establishing the short story as a genre. We will begin by examining the tales and stories of Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe in relation to the rise of magazine publishing and Poe's theory of the short story. We will then compare the short story with serialized fiction; delve into regional fiction; and visit the Charlotte…