Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Advanced seminar in American literature. May be organized by author, genre, period, or critical approach. This course may be repeated for credit if a different topic is taught. Writing.

COURSE DETAILS:

Moby-Dick and Other Outbursts

When Melville published Moby-Dick in 1851 readers were equal parts spellbound and confused. As one London review put it, “There is much that is incredible and a little that is incomprehensible.” American readers were baffled, too. Having fallen in love with the action-packed, lurid sea tales Herman Melville wrote prior to Moby-Dick, readers wondered aloud whether he’d drowned in philosophy – and wanted to take them down with him. The final novel Melville published in his lifetime, The Confidence-Man (1857), didn’t help that reputation. A dense and satirical romp through American capitalism, colonialism, and naiveite, among other things, this strange (strange!) book was published on – wait for it – April Fool’s Day. Now it’s being read as a pitch-perfect appraisal of a 21st-century America that looks increasingly farcical. As for Melville’s career as a writer of ambitious novels, it turns out he wasn’t done. After his death a granddaughter found a manuscript in a breadbox (seriously). It was Billy Budd, Sailor (1886-91,1924), that resplendent meditation on law, sexuality, and history.

Has all this talk of curious novels scared just about scared you off? Don’t run. I’ll be there to walk you through the tough stuff. And if you’ve never read Melville, you’re in for a treat. This guy could write a sentence. Plus, as you might have noticed just by virtue of being alive, Melville’s work has had quite the cultural afterlife. Film, TV, painting, web art, opera, social media, music: Melville is always everywhere. There’s a reason for that.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Comprehend the mechanics of language, especially figurative language;
recognize complex relationships between texts and their contexts;
attain knowledge of the history of nineteenth-century American literature and current methods and theories for understanding it;
refine directed and independent research skills; and,
fine-tune the ability to design and execute cogent arguments advancing informed claims about language and literary cultures, their expression, and their contexts.

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

Any edition of Moby-Dick is fine, so long as it’s unabridged. The book’s chapters are short, so it’ll be no trouble finding the right passage in class. My recommendation, go to your favorite local bookstore (I love Iron Dog Books and Massy Books) and find the one that feels right to you.

As for The Confidence-Man and Billy Budd, I’ve ordered them through SFU Bookstore, though of course you can order them from your favorite local bookstore, too. Whatever you do, though, don’t try to order Billy Budd from Amazon. They’ll send you the wrong edition. (Trust me: I’m the editor of the book and I know. I’ll explain in class why this happens.) Either buy it at SFU Bookstore, order it through another bookstore, or order it directly from Broadview, which is a Canadian publisher and will get it to you quickly: https://broadviewpress.com/product/billy-budd/#tab-description.

Finally, while I get the convenience of e-books, I implore you to buy print editions of the novels.

REQUIRED READING: