123042 PS PS Literary Studies (2023S)

This American literature proseminar investigates the intersections of literature and American landscapes through the critical lenses of ecocriticism and queer theory. An analysis of selective literary examples from the beginning of the 20th century to today provides an overview of the progression of the practice of queering landscapes. Working definitions of “landscape”, “queer”, and “America” support a critical reading and reflection on the topic of the course. We will consider how the (re)presentations of landscapes in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry encode or oppose oppression, societal norms, and how those in turn condition the writers’ experiences in or about the United States of America.

The goal of this course is to help students to become more critical and informed participants of civil society, be more conscious of differing representations of landscapes in American literature, and gain an understanding of historical and contemporary queering and ecocritical practices.

Aims
* Students will become familiar with ecocriticism and queer studies in their complexities and contradictions and will be able to critique as well as apply them to read different works of art.
* Students will compare and connect theoretical texts with primary texts, paying special attention to interdisciplinary approaches, as well as innovative ideas and works of art.
* Students will understand and discuss the impact of the development of human communities, capitalism, racism, sexism, queerphobia, and ableism on society and landscapes and their literary representations.
* Students will critically engage with a variety of texts, genres, authors, and landscapes and in turn reflect on their academic lives, reading lives, and personal perspectives.
* Students will practice and evolve their academic research and writing skills.