English 374 Professor Willbern

DESCRIPTION

Suppose our culture had a dream-life, revealed through its advertising, movies, television shows, supermarket tabloids, internet sites -- and best-selling novels. Under such a supposition, we will aim in this course to be armchair anthropologists of our own society: examining popular late 20th-century literary artifacts and their treatment of such issues as gender roles, family relations, cultural stereotypes (such as racism and sexism), feminism, economic ambition, sexual violence, war, law, religion, superstition, and science.

The concept of cultural fantasy is problematic, of course. Contemporary America consists of a variety of subcultures, co-operating, competing, and compromising within shifting valences of political and economic power. Any notion today of a single primary American culture is a nostalgic device, whose functions are defensive, anxious, and conservative. One function of bestsellers may be to support this traditional nostalgia while exhibiting major threats to it. In other words, these books allow us to exercise our anxieties and satisfy our desires without risk.

This course will survey popular literature and popular culture in the United States from just after World War II to the present. We will read the following books: J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye; Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird; Judith Rossner, Looking for Mr. Goodbar; Peter Benchley, Jaws; Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried; Toni Morrison, Beloved; Stephen King, Misery; John Grisham, The Rainmaker; and Dan Brown, Angels & Demons.

There is an essential element of social history in the course. To be best understood and appreciated, each book should be situated in its cultural context, aligned with major features of American life at the moment of publication and popularity. I will provide brief historical lectures to frame each novel. Key elements of these lectures, along with study questions and useful links, are available on the course web site at

http://www.cas.buffalo.edu/classes/eng/willbern/BestSellers/index.htm

BOOKS

Books are available at Talking Leaves, 3156 Main Street in Buffalo.

Peter Benchley, Jaws
Dan Brown, Angels & Demons
John Grisham, The Rainmaker
Stephen King, Misery
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Toni Morrison, Beloved
Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried
Judith Rossner, Looking for Mr. Goodbar
J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye