This course focuses on one or more genres of popular writing. Examples include detective fiction, science fiction, fan fiction, westerns, romance novels, fantasy, or non-fiction. Students engage popular texts through rigorous literary analysis to ponder how such "light entertainments'' are inextricably linked to aesthetic, historical, and social circumstances. Possible topics include the relationship between popular literature and "the literary''; the relationship between popular literatures and their historical or cultural contexts; the ideological work of genre fiction; the possibilities, limitations, and permeability of genres; as well as the politics of race, class, and/or gender in popular genres. Themes and texts vary by instructor. Recent topics include "Irrealism" and "True Crime." Please consult the department website for information on current and upcoming offerings.
Prerequisites
Students who have received credit for ENGL 431 with the topic "American Carnivalesque Literature" may not receive credit for this course with a topic of the same name.
Course UID
001676.1
Course Subject
Catalog Number
338
Long title
Genre: Popular Literature
Topic
American Carnivalesque Lit.