371. The Invention of American Literature

A. Rohrbach

Spring 1998

Using a cultural studies approach to materials as varied as advertisements and popular mass print media as well as works of "literature," we will examine innovations in the publishing industry, effects of the marketplace and the emergence of the cult of authorship as a way to get to know U.S. literary history and how it was/is made. Readings from canonical writers such as Hawthorne, Stowe, Twain, Howells, James and Wharton, material in Mudd archives and special collections.

Grading Polices:

You are required to write a total of eight "prep" papers. In addition, there will be a final paper and a final examination. Attendance and class participation are mandatory and an excess of three unexcused absences might result in a grade of "no entry." Your final grade will break down according to the following percentages:

Prep papers and discussion: 40-50%

Mid-term essay: 20-30%

Final project: 20-30%

What is a "prep" paper?

A prep paper is a brief (1-2 pp) analytical comment that will be used as a way to focus seminar discussion. You need not account for the whole text in a prep paper. Rather, you will focus your attention on a specific moment, aspect, technique, or concept (for instance) and provide an analytic basis for that focus. Basically, you will be answering the question: Why is this worth your attention? It is the analytic aspect of the prep paper that sets it apart from, say, a journal entry.

What is a mid-term examination?

A mid-term essay is slightly longer than a prep paper because it is a more extended argument. In a 3-5 page essay you will be asked to address one of several topic questions (or one of your own design). Techniques of analysis that you will be using in your prep papers will come into play here since you will be selecting salient examples to support your point of view.

What is a final project?

A final project will develop one aspect of literary history of your choosing. I have attached a list of possibilities to this syllabus. There are many more options than the few I have outlined there. We will have one class session with the directors of Archives and Special Collections to discuss possible projects and to give you an orientation for using those materials. The final project will consist of a display of key items o interest to your project and your presentation of them through exhibit cards. You will also prepare a brief report in which you explain the project's purpose, methodology and self-evaluation. This report will be 8-10 pages in length.

Background Reading:

Brodhead, Richard, "Starting Out in the 1860s:Alcott, Authorship, and the Postbellum Literary Field" (xerox)

Buell, Lawrence. "Literary History a Hybrid Genre" (xerox)

Cohen, Ralph. "Generating Literary Histories" (xerox)

Cunliffe, Marcus. "The American Character" (xerox)

Charvat, William. Literary Publishing in America, 1740-1850

Fox, Stephen. "Advertising Prehistory: The Nineteenth-Century" (xerox)

Foucault, Micheal. "What is an Author?" (xerox)

Howells, William Dean. "The Man of Letters as a Man of Business" (xerox)

Wilenz, Sean. "Society, Politics, and the Market Revolution" (xerox)

Readings in Representational Genres:

captivity narrative: A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson.

the sermon: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Jonathan Edwards

travel literature: Typee, Herman Melville

serial fiction: Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

magazine fiction: How Celia Changed her Mind, Rose Terry Cooke

sensational fiction: Alcott Thrillers, Louisa May Alcott

Readings from the American Canon:

The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allen Poe

Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

The Conjure Woman, Charles Chesnutt

Daisy Miller, Henry James

The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton

Additional Sources on Reserve:

Arac, Jonathan. Huckleberry Finn as Target and Idol

Blumenthal, Joseph. The Printed Book in America.

Charvat, William. The Profession of Authorship in America

Coser, Kadushin and Powell. Books: The Culture and Commerce of Publishing

Davidson, Cathy N. Revolution and the Word

Davis, Donald. Reading for Moral Progress: Nineteenth-Century Institutions Promoting Social Change.

Joyce, Donald Franklin. Gatekeepers of Black Culture

Levine, Lawrence. High Brow/Low Brow

Post-Lauria, Sheilia. Correspondent Colorings: Melville in the Marketplace.

Salmon, Richard. Henry James and the Culture of Publicity

Stern Madeline. Books and Book People

-----, ed. Publishers for Mass Entertainment in Nineteenth-Century America.

Trebbel, John. Between Covers: The Rise and Transformation of Book Publishing in America

Warner, Micheal. The Letters of the Republic: Publishing and the Public Sphere in 18th Century America

Zboray, Ronald J. A Fictive People: Antebellum Economic Development and the American Reading Public.

Week 1:
	Introduction
	"The American Character"
Week 2:
	A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs Mary Rowlandson (1682)
	"Society, Politics and the Market Revolution"
	prep 1
Week 3:
	Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (1741)
Week 4:
	Poe (1840)
	Literary Publishing in America
	prep 2
Week 5:
	Typee (1846)
	Typee
	prep 3
Week 6:
	Alcott Thrillers
	Mystery Writer on Alcott
Week 7:
	Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)
	"Advertising Pre-History: The Nineteenth Century"
	midterm report
Week 8:
	(Spring Break)
Week 9:
	How Celia Changed Her Mind (1857, ff)
	"Literary History as a Hybrid Genre"
	prep 4
	(final project proposal)
Week 10:
	Daisy Miller (1874)
	Daisy Miller
	prep 5
Week 11:
	Huckleberry Finn (1884)
	Huckleberry Finn
	prep 6
Week 12:
	Huckleberry Finn
	prep 7
	"The Man of Letters as a Man of Business"
Week 13:
	The Conjure Woman (1899)
	prep 8
	"Generating Literary Histories"
Week 14:
	The House of Mirth (1905)
	The House of Mirth
	final project due.

DO YOUR OWN LITERARY HISTORY:

Possible Project Descriptions and Aims:

1)Analysis of role that college and university in the creation of the American canon.

(Using reading lists and course catalogues)

 

2)Letters as commentary on taste.

(e.g. Letters and Diaries of Mrs.A.S. Root)

 

3)Focus on a local figure as regional barometer of taste.

(Jonathan Harmon, ed. Lorrain County News.)

4)History of the Oberlin Press.

5)Business Records of local booksellers

6)Use History of Private Collections donated to Libraries as a Inside Look into the development of library holdings--Oberlin College Library/Oberlin Public Library

7)History of Acquisition

(Study acquisition records and reports to library board of directors)

 

8)Close Examination of the Reviewing Process

(Focus on Reviews appearing in North American Review and popular press)

9)History of the Student Monthly/Quarterly

10)Oberlin Review (1874-1904)

11)History of Invited Speakers to First Church as a way to render a History of Ideas

12)Publication History of:

Typee

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Huck Finn

Daisy Miller

The Conjure Woman and Other Stories

The House of Mirth