ENG-H526 American Writers Abroad
Why have so many great American writers (and their literary characters) left the United States, seeking inspiration and fulfillment elsewhere? Following three essential themes- consumption, liberation, and critique- this Honors seminar travels alongside writers from the 19th-century past to the 21st-century present as it investigates the extent to which American literature has benefited from their adventurous spirit and cosmopolitan outlook. What does Ernest Hemingway's celebration of the pleasures of Europe in A Moveable Feast have in common with Elizabeth Gilbert's pursuit of personal contentment in Eat, Pray, Love? In what ways does Frederick Douglass's transatlantic antislavery activism in My Bondage and My Freedom anticipate James Baldwin's exploration of LGBTQ identity in Giovanni's Room? Can we trace journalist Suzy Hansen's vision of today's "post-American world" back to pioneering foreign correspondent Margaret Fuller's insistence that the U.S. could do better in its practice of democracy? As we interrogate familiar myths of expatriates as members of a "Lost Generation," we will reflect on how much writers and readers actually gain from critical distance that puts American experiences in perspective.
Prerequisite
Take
WRI-102 or
WRI-H103. CAS Honors students, English majors and minors with 3.5 GPA, or instructor permission.