How Free Can We Be in the Modern World? Realism and Naturalism in American Literature, 1860-1940

3-4 Credits

Realist and naturalist novelists wondered if Americans were becoming more or less free. Was moral choice possible in a capitalist society devoted to money-making? Could African Americans achieve equality or was racism irreversible? Could women claim new forms of social, professional and sexual freedom – or was male dominance inescapable? Read masterpieces of realist and naturalist fiction and essays by Marx and Freud that changed the modern world. Students will explore the extent and limits of freedom in own lives. Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W