Space/Place in North-American Literature

General characterization

Prerequisites

Available soon

Bibliography

McVeigh, Stephen. 2007. The American Western, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press.
Deverell, William (Ed.). 2004. A Companion to the American West. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Milner, Clyde A. (Ed.). 1996. A New Significance: Re-Envisioning the History of the American West. New York: Oxford University Press.
Slotkin, Richard. 1992. Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America, New York: Harper Perennial.
Bruce, C. (ed.). 1990. Myth of the West, New York: Rizzoli.
Manzanas, A. M. and J. Benito, (2014). Occupying Space in American Literature and Culture. Static Heroes, Social Movements and Empowerment. New York: Routledge.
Tally, R. T. (Ed.). (2017). The Routledge handbook of literature and space. New York: Routledge.
Warf, B. and S. Arias (Eds.). (2009). The Spatial Turn: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. New York: Routledge.
Westphal, B. (2011). Geocriticism: Real and Fictional Spaces, trans. Robert T. Tally Jr. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Teaching method

The seminars are of a theoretical-practical nature with a strong participatory component on the part of the students. The practical component will comprise the students' oral interventions and the commented analysis of literary, filmic and theoretical texts, both in class and on the forums specifically created for each author/work. The teacher will also guide the research aimed at preparing the final essay during individual or group tutorials.

Evaluation method

The assessment for this course will consist of 2 components:

• Continuous assessment (50%)
• A final written assignment (50%)

Continuous Assessment:
This component will focus on the students' motivation and performance during the course. It will involve aspects such as: effort expended on the tasks set; quality of contributions during the seminar (presentations, debates, etc.); participation on the forums; short written essay; oral presentation on one of the authors/works; general motivation; progress made.

Final Written Assignment:
This could be on a subject related to the students' oral presentation and should aim to incorporate some of the theoretical perspectives discussed on the seminar. It should function as an independent study, properly contextualized and accompanied by an abstract and bibliography. The evaluation will consider the expansion beyond the oral presentation. A comparative analysis will be positively evaluated, as well as an original approach to the space of the West in contemporary American literature.

Essay: 10 to 15 pages in English, excluding bibliography.

Subject matter

SPACE/PLACE IN NORTH-AMERICAN LITERATURE
Syllabus Semester 2 2023/2024

Topic: The Representation of the (Mythic) West in Contemporary American Literature

1. Revisiting the way(s) the West is seen through contemporary North American literature, particularly from the Second World War to the present day
2. The formation of a mythical image of the West: the antecedents
3. The Imagined West(s)
4. The importance and significance of the territory for the construction of a national (and local) identity
5. The confrontation of myth with reality (geographical and human)
6. Male and female models
7. The opposition between West and East
8. The influence and vision of cinema

Study authors:

Owen Wister, The Virginian (1902)

Jack Schaefer, Shane (1949)

Annie Proulx, Close Range: Wyoming Stories (1999); Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2 (2004); Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3 (2008)

Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men (2005)

Sherman Alexie, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993); Ten Little Indians (2003)

Jessica Bruder, Nomadland (2017)

Filmography:

The Virginian (1946)

Shane (1953)

Pale Rider (1985)

The Searchers (1954)

Unforgiven (1992)

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Nomadland (2019)

Programs

Programs where the course is taught: