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HIST326
The Politics of Sentiment
HIST326 FA
Crosslistings: WMST326, AMST326
Photo Caption and Credits
Next Offered in 9798 FA
This seminar examines the ways in which sentimental fictions
mapped the terrain of social reform in 19th-century America,
and explores the relationship between narratives grounded
in a sentimental aesthetic--one gendered feminine and often
produced by women--and the transformation of the radical
politics of the antebellum era into the genteel reforms of
late Victorianism. Efforts by novelists to reshape popular
attitudes and influence public policy toward disadvantaged
groups will be juxtaposed to an analysis of the cultural
empowerment that the production of such narratives conferred
upon both writers and genteel readers.
MAJOR READINGS
Douglas, THE FEMINIZATION OF AMERICAN
CULTURE
Catherine Gallagher, THE INDUSTRIAL REFORMATION OF ENGLISH
FICTION
Mary Kelley, PRIVATE WOMAN, PUBLIC STAGE
Naomi Schor, READING IN DETAIL
Jane Tompkins, SENSATIONAL DESIGNS
Selected novels by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Lydia Maria Child,
Mark Twain, Helen Hunt Jackson and William Dean Howells.
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Students will be required to
keep a journal and produce a substantial research paper.
A brief class presentation as well as regular participation
in discussion will be expected of each student.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Unless
preregistered students attend the first class meeting or
communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first
class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE:
Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the
Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Prerequisites:
None
Last Updated on MAR-10-1997
About the Photo:
A representation of the stages of a Victorian woman's life
Reference:
Hellerstein, Erna Olafson; Hume, Leslie Parker; Offen, Karen
M., VICTORIAN WOMEN, Stanford, Stanford University
Press, 1981.
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Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459