The Middle Class in American Fiction 4219-SC0016
The course will discuss American fiction that depicts the middle class, starting with Realism and Naturalism (Wharton, Dreiser), through 20th century (Updike, Roth, Carver) to 21st century (Franzen, Saunders, Ng, Jeffers). The historical readings will be discussed in dialogue with the 21st century fiction in a comparative perspective. The readings will be a selection of short stories and novels (with one novel to read in full and present in groups). The theoretical framework of social class is based on sociological and economic readings (Veblen, Weber, Bourdieu, Giddens, Piketty) to give context to the changes in the condition and identification as the middle class that occurred in American society. We will reflect on literature’s reaction to those changes and the authors’ artistic choices in relation to the political, social and cultural circumstances of their era (Moretti, Kaplan, Jameson). There will also be historical and critical reflection on the middle class in the context race and on how much the idea of the middle class and American Dream is racialized (“Negroland” by Margo Jefferson, “Warmth of the Other Suns” by Isabel Wilkerson, “Passing” Nella Larsen).
The final project is a group work on a selected novel. The course requires reading two novels (announced well in advance) throughout the term, along with short stories and theoretical texts on week-to-week basis.
Type of course
Mode
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
1. KNOWLEDGE: A graduate possesses comprehensive knowledge and understanding of:
- selected facts and phenomena concerning the middle-class culture of the United States, as well as the methods and theories that explain complex relationships between them
- examples of American fiction and their historical, social, and political contexts, as well as manifestations and processes characteristic of contemporary cultural, social, and political life in the United States, especially concerning the middle-class culture and literature.
- the complexity of research on the culture of the United States and the necessity of drawing from other scientific disciplines (sociology, economy, social psychology) to create foundations and contexts for these studies
- major trends and works of American literature since 19th century until the present, essential foundations of American literary history that are an integral part of studying North American culture, as well as theoretical and methodological basics of literary studies
2. SKILLS: A graduate is able to:
- formulate and solve complex research problems, recognizing, understanding, interpreting, explaining, and analyzing the causes and course of cultural processes and phenomena in the United States using sources and standard research methods and tools within the humanities.
- use acquired theoretical knowledge to describe and analyze American contemporary literature in the context of social classes.
- formulate and solve complex and atypical problems concerning American culture by selecting appropriate sources, not only from the field of cultural studies but also from related sciences (sociology, economy, social psychology) necessary to understand the processes and mechanisms of cultural influence
- interpret works of American literature about the middle class in the context of broadly understood American culture
- participate, under the supervision of a scientific supervisor, in the preparation of group research projects in the broad field of cultural studies in the United States
- continually expand and supplement acquired knowledge about the United States through a self-planned and implemented lifelong learning process
3. SOCIAL COMPETENCES: A graduate is able to:
- utilize interdisciplinary knowledge acquired in American Studies concerning the United States to formulate own opinions and recognize its significance in solving cognitive and practical problems
- develop professionally, continue learning and engage in the development of North American literary studies
Assessment criteria
Group work on a selected novel – 25%
Final test – 25%
Attendance and participation – 25%
Short responses on Kampus – 25%
Grading scale:
0-60 – 2
60-70 – 3
71-75 – 3,5
76-85 – 4
86-90 – 4,5
91-95 – 5
96-100 – 5!
Bibliography
- Selection of short stories – to be confirmed, depending on students' interests
- Novels: "Sister Carrie" by Theodore Dreiser (1900) + one to choose from:
Raymond Carver “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” (1981)
Don DeLillo “White Noise” (1985)
Jeffrey Eugenides “The Marriage Plot” (2011) / "Virgin Suicides" (1993)
Jonathan Franzen “Freedom” (2011)
Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, “The Love Song of WEB DuBois” (2021)
Celeste Ng “Little Fires Everywhere” (2017)
Philip Roth “Portnoy’s Complaint” (1969)
Jonathan Safran Foer “Here I Am” (2016)
Zadie Smith “On Beauty” (2005)
John Updike “Couples” (1968)
Edith Wharton “Age of Innocence” (1920)
Critical Readings (fragments)
Pierre Bourdieu “Distinction” (1979)
Fredrik Jameson “The Political Unconscious” (1981)
Margo Jefferson „Negroland” (2015)
Amy Kaplan „The Social Construction of American Realism” (1988)
Franco Moretti „Bourgeois” (2013)
Thomas Piketty “Capital in the 21st century” (2013)
Thorstein Verblen “The Theory of the Leisure Class” (1899)
Isabel Wilkerson „Warmth of the Other Suns” (2010)
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: