Outlaws, Villains, and Fiends: Criminals in the American Novel

In this course we will trace how representations of criminality change-and remain the same-over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries, investigating American culture's fascination with outlaws, villains, and fiends from the legacy of the Wild West to the boardrooms of Wall Street. Central to our inquiries will be the ways that these narratives depict justice and the law, as well as our readerly experiences of antipathy and/or compassion toward the criminals these fictions depict and those who seek to foil them. Through class discussions, close readings, and attention to the century's shifting aesthetic sensibilities, this course provides students with an opportunity to understand the American novel's development in response to evolving interpretations of crime and those who commit it. Course assignments will include a presentation and a seminar paper. For DLA, MLA, and AMCS MA students only.
Course Attributes:

Outlaws, Villains, and Fiends: Criminals in the American Novel

AMERICAN CULTURE STUDIES 5901

Section 01