LIT-137 Literature and American Identity
Mojave poet Natalie Diaz writes, “I have never been true in America. America is my myth.” Since its founding, the US has invoked the myth of an homogenous American identity to justify its projects of settler colonialism and imperialism. In this course, students will analyze literature that both reflects and resists U.S. myth-making from the early twentieth century to the present. We will ask: How does literature contribute to the formation of American identity both at “home” and abroad? How does literature challenge cultural and national hegemony? Readings include Jack London's The Call of the Wild, Willa Cather's O Pioneers!, Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, and poems by Natasha Trethewey, Ada Limón, and Joy Harjo.
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