Бакалавриат
2025/2026
Литература США
Статус:
Курс по выбору (Иностранные языки и межкультурная коммуникация)
Кто читает:
Школа иностранных языков
Где читается:
Школа иностранных языков
Когда читается:
2-й курс, 1, 2 модуль
Охват аудитории:
для всех кампусов НИУ ВШЭ
Язык:
английский
Контактные часы:
44
Course Syllabus
Abstract
This course surveys selected American authors representing the major periods, schools, and traditions in American literary history. The course covers the pre-colonial eras (before European colonization in the 1600s) to our contemporary era; multiple genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama). Some attention is also paid to the historical/cultural contexts of the literary periods. In particular, the course examines the manner in which writers with diverse backgrounds responded to or appropriated different types of language as part of their efforts to offer alternative expressions of the American experience. Special emphasis will be given to the study of American identity, multiculturalism, race, gender, religious belief, technology, and economic difference. The course traces the formal and thematic developments of literature, focusing on the relationship between writers and readers, the conditions of publishing, innovations in the novel’s form, fiction’s engagement with history, and the changing place of literature in American culture. Given the knowledge that literature is inseparably linked to history and is generated from a specific historical period, the student will be able to discern historical events and influences as depicted, explicitly or implicitly, in literature. Students should be able to show the relationship between an author’s life and the philosophy of the time in which they lived and their literary works. The course offers students a broad introduction to American literature, also serves as preparation for more an advanced course in American studies and American literature in particular. The course is designed to provide students with the analytic skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in American literature. Students will learn to assess literary and cultural materials, their relevance to a given interpretive problem, reliability, and importance, and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in literary and scholarship. The American Literature course is aimed to develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in essay format. The course combines activities of a traditional (quizzes, essays, discussions etc.) and a nontraditional (presentations, games, creative writing etc.) nature. It also envisages various research projects conducted individually or in small groups on a wide range of topics related to its subject matter. This syllabus sets minimal requirements for the knowledge and skills of students and determines the contents of the course. It targets both lecturers and teaching assistants, and 2nd - year undergraduate students of the Foreign languages and intercultural communication programme, to whose needs it is specifically tailored.
Learning Objectives
- The American Literature course is aimed to develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in essay format. The course combines activities of a traditional (quizzes, essays, discussions etc.) and a nontraditional (presentations, games, creative writing etc.) nature. It also envisages various research projects conducted individually or in small groups on a wide range of topics related to its subject matter.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- be able to apply selected theories of American literature
- be able to compare the characteristics of major literary movements
- be able to content, and mechanics
- be able to contrast the theoretical aspects of literary genres
- be able to define major literary movements and schools
- be able to evaluate the quality of literary works by comparing them to the recognized best in that genre
- be able to identify the connections between contemporary American literature and culture
- be able to interpret major literary works
- be able to outline the literary history of America
- be able to present acceptable critical analysis of a novel from the standpoint of style
- be able to summarize an argument, compare/contrast the thematic and structural characteristics of literary texts
- develop skills of of thinking, reading, and writing analytically and critically
- develop skills of presenting one’s own opinion and participating (individually or in small groups) in the debates on a wide range of topics related to the course subject matter
- develop skills of thinking, reading, and writing analytically and critically
- develop skills of using terminology and methods taught within the course
- develop skills of working with primary and secondary sources
- know literary heritage and its meaning to American nation and the whole world
- know main political and cultural leaders
- know major periods in American literature
- know significant periods and streams of American literature
- know social and cultural development of the USA
- know their representatives and major texts
Course Contents
- Topic 1 American literary periods. Colonial period and democratic origin of American literature
- Topic 2 Literature of Enlightenment and Establishment of American literary traditions
- Topic 3 Romantic period in American literature
- Topic 4 Rise of Realism and the development of regional literature
- Topic 5 Naturalism and Muckraking in American literature
- Topic 6 Post-war literature. Literature of the Lost Generation.
- Topic 7 Literature of the first quarter of the XXth century. Modernism and Experimentation. Trends of Realism
- Topic 8 Second World War and American view. American Identity in literature.
- Topic 9 Literature of exhaustion. Change of paradigms: Realism-Modernism-Postmodernism
- Topic 10 American literature of the last decades (the turn of the XXst century). Moving to Postmodernism and back. New trends, new tradition. Interaction of different traditions and experiments.
Assessment Elements
- Attendance and participation
- Ongoing evaluation and Quizzes
- Colloquium
- Group project
- Essay
Interim Assessment
- 2025/2026 2nd module0.25 * Attendance and participation + 0.2 * Colloquium + 0.15 * Essay + 0.2 * Group project + 0.2 * Ongoing evaluation and Quizzes
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Massa, A., & Goldman, A. (2016). American Literature in Context : 1900-1930. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1240144
- Pavese, C., & Fussell, E. S. (2017). American Literature : Essays and Opinions. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1564310
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Albin Beqiri. (2019). American Literature throughout Its History. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2550204
- Balkun, M. M. (2006). The American Counterfeit : Authenticity and Identity in American Literature and Culture. Tuscaloosa: University Alabama Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=279718
- Wagner-Martin, L. (2013). A History of American Literature : 1950 to the Present. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=531595