Law and Culture in American Fiction

3 credits · Law

How literary texts register changes in property law, the law of contracts, intellectual property and legal constructions of race, gender, and privacy, as they relate to the maintenance of personal identity, community stability, and linguistic meaning. A novel or story is paired with relevant legal and historical readings, considering the points of contact between literary narrative and narrative in law. Authors include James Fenimore Cooper, Herman Melville, Henry James, Theodore Dreiser, Nella Larsen, William Faulkner, and Sherman Alexie.