English 178 - Winter, 2014

Topics in Nations, Regions, & Other Cultural Geographies

Class Information

Instructor: Hsu, Hsuan L.
Time: TR 12:10-1:30
Location: 207 Olson

Description

LITERATURE AND THE CITY
This course will consider representations of the city in American literature alongside theories of urban space and subjectivity from the fields of sociology and urban studies. While reading influential works of detective fiction, immigrant narrative, urban noir, hipster literature, and cultural theory, we will consider the following questions: How has the growth of modern cities influenced perception, subjectivity, and community? What kinds of people move to cities, and how do cities change their inhabitants? How has American literature been shaped by the rise and rapid transformations of cities in the last two centuries, and how have writers worked to critique and reshape those cities? What kinds of opportunities and constraints do cities extend to racially and sexually marginalized subjects? Authors will include Edgar Allan Poe, Raymond Chandler, Ann Petry, Walter Mosley, Colson Whitehead, Karen Tei Yamashita, and Tao Lin.

Grading

regular participation
in-class quizzes
shorter paper
longer paper
final exam