ENGL - 365. Cold War Literature and Culture

3 credit(s)
This course examines American literature and culture of the Cold War era (1945-1989). The Cold War was a period of American prosperity, but it was also an era of communist “witch hunts,” racial strife, war protests, persistent gender inequality, and general anxieties about nuclear disaster, individual liberty, and suburban conformity. In this course, we will explore how writers responded to this fraught historical period. We will examine literary works and other cultural texts (such as films, advertisements, theoretical and historical documents) that break down the boundaries between art, popular culture, and politics. Reading selections will vary, but may include works by: John Barth, Don Delillo, Philip K. Dick, Allen Ginsberg, Joseph Heller, Ken Kesey, Grace Paley, Sylvia Plath, Thomas Pynchon, Ishmael Reed, Adrienne Rich, J.D. Salinger, Anne Sexton, Kurt Vonnegut, Alice Walker, and Richard Yates.

Attribute: AMSC, ARTS, ASLT