Sources of the Self: the Making of American Identity (U02770)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : LLC-3-U02770

Individualism has played a crucial role in America's ideological and literary development. For many authors, America was not only a New World, but it also promised new identities, and new ways of conceiving the self. The course will consider whether there is such as thing as a distinctly 'American' self. Some of the questions it will consider are: How is American identity constructed? What did the rise of individualism contribute to this process? How has American identity evolved from the eighteenth to the late twentieth century? The course also examines American encounters with 'others' - racial, social, moral, sexual, national, and environmental - in order to understand the various ways in which the self has been conceptualized.

Entry Requirements

? Costs : Essential course texts.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

English Literature, (School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, Schedule G)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

? Other Required Attendance : 1 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will engage in a chronological consideration of literary and non-literary texts, evaluating their developing contribution to ideas of American selfhood. They will learn to assess critically the varieties of American experience and identity, from the 18th century to the late 20th century.