SENTIMENTALISM AND ITS AFTERLIFE

“It is not expected of critics as it is of poets that they should help us to make sense of our lives; they are bound only to attempt the lesser feat of making sense of the ways we try to make sense of our lives.”

– Frank Kermode

This seminar will focus on the complex relationship between literature and emotion. By studying sentimental literature in 19th- and 20th-century America, we’ll examine how works written to portray and evoke feeling functioned as powerful social and political forces. We’ll read some of the most popular American fiction ever written as well as more obscure works, and we’ll study the philosophy that informed a sentimental worldview. We’ll explore the legacy of American sentimentalism, studying the backlash against sentimental literature and investigating the ways that sentimental tropes lasted into the twentieth century and beyond. Throughout the course, we’ll read from philosophers and critics who debate the political potential of sympathy—arguing to what extent sympathy releases revolutionary force or fosters political quietism.