US/Fever Fantasy Desire


We will explore post-revolutionary and antebellum America through the novels of Charles Brockden Brown, Hannah Foster, Susannah Rowson, Royall Tyler, Leonora Sansay, Edgar Allan Poe, and Herman Melville. Brown, who wrote about Indian-killing sleep-walkers, homicidal maniacs driven by mandates from God, and utopian conspirators, was also fascinated by the Yellow Fever epidemics that periodically ravaged Philadelphia during his lifetime, especially the fever season of 1793, which claimed over 5000 lives. What made "fever" such a powerful trope for Brown and others? Contagion, conspiracy (literally--to breathe together), rebellion--the keywords of the age? What about liberty, equality, and fraternity? We will also read literature about treason, novels and poetry about seduction, betrayal, race-warfare, and madness. What inspired such sensational fare at the beginnings of US national literature? What was the connection between terror, conspiracy, madness, and imagination for these early Americans? What did madness mean at the turn-of-the-century? in America? in Europe? Toward the end of the semester, we will jump forward to study three works by the American master of madness, Edgar Allan Poe (Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Purloined Letter, and The Fall of the House of Usher). We conclude by spending a month with Melville's masterwork, Moby Dick.
The course will also introduce students to the psychoanalysis of literature and culture. Students will become acquainted with the work of Jacques Lacan both through his writings and his interlocutors.

Materials

Required

Charles Brockden Brown, Arthur Mervyn, or Memoirs of the Year 1793
Charles Brockden Brown, Ormond, or The Secret Witness
Hannah Foster, The Coquette
Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Longman Critical Edition
Edgar Allan Poe, Library of America College Edition
Leonora Sansay, Secret History; or The Horrors of St. Domingo and Laura
Susannah Rowson, Reuben and Rachel
Royall Tyler, The Algerine Captive
Slavoj Zizek, Looking Awry
Slavoj Zizek, Plague of Fantasies
 

Supplemental
Bruce Fink, The Lacanian Subject

 

Course Learning Goals
 

Arts Literacy and Practice

Students will develop the ability to appreciate, evaluate, and articulate the aesthetic and formal elements of a work of art.

Students will develop the ability to comprehend and interpret works of art within historical and cultural contexts.

Students will develop the ability to synthesize conceptual, formal, aesthetic and technical elements resulting in the performance or creation of works of art.

W2

English/Humanities 405 counts for W2 credit.  There will be writing instruction, frequent writing assignments, and training in writing within the discipline of humanistic studies.

Assignments

Papers
A final paper of 20-25 pages will be due at the end of the term. This paper will be written in stages throughout the semester. Students will receive frequent feedback on the choice, development, and execution of their projects. The final version must be proofread and include proper bibliographic citations.

 

Presentations
Every student will make two formal presentations to the class. The first presentation will be chosen from a list of suggested topics and delivered at the appropriate time according to the calendar of the class. Presentations should last at least 15 minutes, but no more than 20. The second presentation is tba.

 

Interest Statements
Every week that students do not have to make a formal presentation to class, they will write a 1-3 page "interest statement" on either an assigned topic or one of their own design. Designed to be an informal, immediate response to some facet of the week's assigned readings, Interest Statments may take the form of a list of questions with or without tentative answers, a close reading of a passage, a note bringing reserve or supplementary readings into discussion, or other. A hard copy of your statement must be brought to class and students should expect to be called upon to inaugurate discussion on any given day.

Quizzes
Occasionally, I will ask short answer questions at the beginning of class to assess reading comprehension and to stimulate discussion.

 

Special Note for Graduate Students
Graduate students will meet all of the expectations required of undergraduates; however, in lieu of the first class presentation, they will prepare author biographies when a new author is introduced (no more than 10 minute presentation to the class, as if introducing a speaker). These will be assigned on the first day of classes. Additionally, graduate students will read and prepare brief annotations on at least two critical articles or books/book chapters on each of the novels that we read. They will also choose a recent book (in the last 5 years) on a topic relevant to the course (and their final project) and prepare a 1000 word book review. Finally, they will be expected to write a 25-35 page final paper aspiring to a product that can be submitted for peer review in a professional journal.

 

Course Policies & Grading 

Student Responsibilities
Because we meet only once per week, missing class will severely affect a student's final grade. Participation in discussion, preparation of the material, and timely completion of assignments are required.

 

Instructor Responsibilities
Students will receive prompt oral and/or written response from me on their work. In addition to regular office hours, I will schedule periodic, individual meetings to discuss the research project with each of you.

 

Academic Dishonesty
The following passage is taken from the academic regulations section of the Bucknell University Catalog: "Bucknell students are responsible for the preparation and presentation of work representing their own efforts. Acceptance of this responsibility is essential to the educational process and must be considered as an expression of mutual trust, the foundation upon which creative scholarship rests. Students are directed to use great care when preparing all written work and to acknowledge fully the source of all ideas and language other than their own."

 

I fully support the above principles and the institutional process that deals with violations of academic responsibility at Bucknell. I will not hesitate to initiate this process if the above mentioned “mutual trust” is violated in my course. In addition, it is important that you recognize that there may be instances when collaboration is appropriate in my class and other instances when it is not. Absent specific instructions to the contrary, you are to assume that all assignments are to be completed without collaboration. Finally, in acknowledging the source of all ideas and language other than your own, you must cite the creator of Internet posted information just as you would an author of a textbook, a journal article, a reference book, emails, or personal conversations from which your have used information or ideas.

 

Grading

Presentation 1 (25%)
Presentation 2 (10%)

Evaluated for content, organization, and delivery

"Interest statements," participation, and other exploratory exercises (30%)

Final Paper (35%)

Evaluated for content, organization, and mechanics