MA ENGLISH SEM IV

The American Literature course (4 credits), offered in the Second-Year of the M.A. English Programme, introduces students to major movements and figures of American Literature through the study of notable works in short fiction, novels and drama. The course provides an understanding of American literature through the 1850s to the present. A study of the selected literary text of the 19th, 20th, and 21st century America allows for an exploration of literary works as products of history, culture and social change, uncovering at the same time the complexity of the voices and perspectives that shape American literature. With a focus on realism, modernism, and postmodernism, the selected works allow for analysis and appreciation of literary elements like genre, structure, characterisation, imagery, and theme; examining at the same time issues of class, gender, race, nation, colonialism, global crises, and urban modernity.

In the fourth semester, the texts-in-study will be the works of Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller and Toni Morrison. Henry James, an author of pre-eminence in the American canon evolved a literary style that anticipated the psychological novel. Ernest Hemingway is one of America's master storytellers whose stories are noted for their simplicity, originality, and craftsmanship. William Faulkner is considered one of the greatest novelist of modern times. Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller are part of the triumvirate that established modern American Drama. Toni Morrison, 1993 Nobel Laureate in Literature and a major American novelist is one of the 20th Century’s most influential novelists and intellectuals.