ENGL 62.04 Trauma and Enjoyment in Early American Literature

Trauma is omnipresent today, but so is confusion about its signs, symptomatology, and long-term effects. Is trauma an event, a process, or a condition of being? Is sex or power more predominant in human relations? Why do we put ourselves in harm’s way despite our better intentions? Are life’s worst experiences always immitigable injustices, or are they potentially transformative? Early American literature might seem an unlikely guide here, but the distinction between violence and pleasurable excitation was crucial to the way American settlers encountered natives, how slavery became a definitive moral issue, and how literary history evolved from cautionary narratives of seduction to intensified engagements with reality. This dual survey course examines classic works of American literature from the first encounter to the Civil War, alongside pivotal works in trauma theory.

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:LIT; WCult:W

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Department-Specific Course Categories

Junior Colloquium: Course Group II