Comparative Literature 391M - S-The Unexceptional US

We will attempt to read and interpret historically in ways that move beyond national, and nationalist, readings of U.S. history. Rather than survey all of American social and cultural history in a single speeding semester, we will focus on four particular periods of U.S. history, four moments where events in America received international attention. We'll begin with the colonial encounter, then skip to the Age of Revolutions, followed by Harlem Renaissance, and, finally, end in the Vietnam war. We will examine a single representative text from each of these four contexts, bringing to bear an interdisciplinary selection of readings and other supporting materials in our discussions of the four central texts.