ENGL 357 - Inventing America: Histories of the Book, Archive, and Empire

FC ARHU CD WINT

4 credits
What is America? Where is it? And how did it come into being? This class examines the literary and discursive ‘invention’ of America - as a place, a discourse, and an episteme - from roughly the 17th century through the present. We will explore the relationships among print cultures, archives, and power in the making of American empire. Readings will focus on both historical and contemporary novellas, poems, plays, short stories, and graphic novels that ‘rewrite,’ ‘decolonize,’ and ‘reimagine’ American spaces, histories, and literatures. Authors may include Catalina de Erauso, Kyle Baker, Leslie Marmon Silko, Michelle Cliff, Toni Morrison, and M. NourbeSe Philip.

Prerequisites: ENGL 299 or two 200-level courses.