Contemporary Literature and the Persistent Past

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

How do we think about the past? As a golden age we long to return to? Or a painful memory better off forgotten? Is it set in stone or open to revision? Together we'll read the novels, plays, and poetry of contemporary British and American authors who demonstrate just how crucial these questions can be. When, for example, books about slavery or the Holocaust are periodically banned from schools, it becomes clear that a) the past doesn't stay neatly behind us and b) people can find it difficult to cope with that. By studying literature, we can understand the stakes and implications of the various ways we currently cope with the persistent past, and develop a vision of how we might do better. In this writing intensive course you will produce a series of short analytical essays and a final creative project.