Respond to this blog post by engaging in a thought experiment. Project yourself 250 years in the future, and imagine that the future version of the UIUC English Department is offering a 400-level course, "Literature of the Later Twentieth Century."
- What will be the specific time span of the course? What events will mark the starting point and the end point and differentiate the "Later" C20 from the "Earlier" C20?
- What genres of literature will the course emphasize?
- What specific authors or texts ought to be on the syllabus?
- What will be the important themes to be covered?
- How will scholars in 250 years disagree about how the literature of this period is to be understood?
You shouldn't answer all of these questions in your response (a couple of sentences addressing any one of them is fine!), but do offer some specific ideas about such a future course. You can also respond by taking issue (kindly and collegially, please!) with a classmate's projection of the future.
Deadline: Saturday (1/22), midnight.
6 comments:
I'll start by specifying the course as "American Literature of the Later Twentieth Century." I think that the time period would be from 1965 (the beginning of the American ground war in Vietnam) to 2003 (the beginning of the Iraq War, I know 2003 is in the 21st Century but after 9/11 a lot of new American literature started coming out providing a nice indication of Americans' senses of American identity, and sentiments toward other parts of the world. I chose 1965 because the hippie movement was developing which, aided by the long waged Vietnam war, produced a lot of speculation and criticism of American culture, and began a break from the enduring image of America as the white knight of the west which emerged from WWII and endured the Korean War. Inbetween 1965 and 2003 American culture, societal values, and international policy evolved significantly which provided important works which analyzed Americanism, American Imperialism and American Exceptionalism; as well as immigration issues and the immigrant's experience in America following US conflicts with parts of Asia the Middle East, and Communism. I think the Earlier Twentieth C American Lit would cover the break from the US' isolationist tendencies with it's entrance into WWI and the development of its economic and political influence in the world arena and the evolution of its societal values up to 1965.
The English Department's 400-level course, "Literature of the Later Twentieth Century" will cover works published between 1945 and 1999. I believe 1945 is a significant year because it marked the end of World War II, which led to the beginning of globalization and efforts for world peace, an ideal that is still far from being achieved. As computers and the internet developed quickly, Science Fiction took hold as a respectable form of literature. For this reason, Science Fiction and Fantasy texts would be studied in this class. Major authors that should be studied would include J.K. Rowling, Orson Scott Card, Isaac Asimov, and Philip K. Dick. Alternative history fiction also became popular, allowing authors to rewrite the histories of unpleasant wars and memories of depression. I'm also quite sure that Oprah's Book Club would make the list, not because I'm placing a plug for Oprah, but because her influence inspired many of her viewers to read and she lifted books to top-sellers with a simple recommendation. Themes to be covered would include anti-war sentiments, dissilusionment, the drug culture and counter-culture, and escapism. I would hope that my personal favorite author, Hunter S. Thompson, could be studied, as he was an influential voice for some of the themes I mentioned in the previous sentence.
If we are talking about American Literature specifially from the United States, I would have to disagee with NFS. While I think the Vietnam War and the hippie movement were significant to the American identity, I would move the date back to the early 1950s. Possibly to the TV becoming more common in homes. While many think bac to the 50s with a sense of nostalgia, we can't forget that even though civil rights legislation did not get passed until the 60's the movement began in the 50's and the television brought the those images into the homes of the American people blowing a hole in their pristine vision of the American dream that was for some but not for all. I think the televison was instumental in the shift in American identity.
If we are talking about World Literature, than I tend to agree with Jillian in that the WWII would be the point in which true globalization began and therefore changed forever the experiences of citizens of the world. I would like to think that I was well read enough to pick out some authors who will be thought significant in in a few centuries, but I am not.
If I were teaching a course of later twentieth century literature I would focus on the time between 1950-1980. These dates follow World War II, which provides an interesting backdrop for analyzing the works. Also, these dates encompass the rapid development of America as the dominant country of the world. The Vietnam War as well as the civil rights movement are two events that define these years. Using these events, the class will focus on fiction works that are reactions to these events. Some major authors covered are Ray Bradbury, Ayn Rand, and Vonnegut.
The themes to focus on would be the rise of America as a capitalist power and its effect on American identity, the shift in values as a result of these changes, anti-war, and post World War II America.
The specific time span of the 400 level course "Literature of the Later Twentieth Century" will cover from 1947-1990. This time period will mark the era when the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union started, issues of civil rights were strongly debated, and Postmodernism.
Thinking back to the literature I read in high school I would have to say that specific texts that ought to be on the syllabus would include: To Kill a Mockingbird, Catch 22, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and The Crucible. In addition, authors listed on the syllabus include Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Jay McInerney.
I would start a little earlier and say that ideal "400 level course "Literature of Later Twentieth Century" should begin in the early 1940s and end at the turn of the century. You could say that this was the true era of advancing technologies. First, let’s gets some historical background, which may help support my later argument. The year 1941 became the introduction to the first computer controlled by software & 1942 with the invention of the first electronic digital computer. Then you merge into the 50s where the first hard disk and modem was invented & television had become a dominant source of media, allowing family and friends to be entertained and informed with the latest events. Television became the new rare book, because there was probably one per household unit which meant that they were a tad bit on the expensive side. In the 60s, the compact disk and ram were invented allowing users to safely store their work in an electronic form. Pretty soon the people were able to gain access to floppy disks and microprocessors and later they were able to make use of the Ethernet and printer (ink and laser). Then we end up with cell phones and finally the addiction to cyber space in the form of blogs and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, etc. Now, how does this tie into literature specific to this time period. Well, these advanced technologies allowed the world to effectively store various literary works safely and discretely, reproduce them when needed (even in a modern printed form), display any piece of literature on the big screen, and share them instantly with one another as we are doing right here on this very blog. You may find literature that focus on this advances, some that include women having a say in becoming a mother or not (invention of the contraceptive pill), analyzing /comparing works from the past and present (Anthologies), and literature that incorporates lots of numbers (statistics, predictions, etc).
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