Fictions of American History

When novelists look into the American past, what do they see? In this course, we will read historical fictions by some of the most eminent figures in U.S. literature, studying their depictions of earlier times and their commentaries on how the American past continues to shape the American present and future. Assigned works will include stories about colonization, slavery, imperialism, and the question of whether the nation’s historical trajectory could have taken a different path than it ultimately did. Authors are likely to include Cather, Faulkner, Hawthorne, Melville, Morrison, Roth, Silko, Twain, and others.