Identity in American Literature of the 1940s

Harvard HLS

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam Much American literature of the 1940s is concerned with issues of identity that resonate across the decades – race, gender, and the relationship of individuals to groups that help define them. Yet there are variations on these themes that may not be so familiar. These variations may give us some new perspective on contemporary perceptions of identity in society. We will read novels by five writers – two still well-known today (Carson…