ENG 223 Sympathy & Early Amer Novel

During the long nineteenth century, social reformers in the United States made use of new media to disseminate visual and textual representations of suffering to combat various evils—such as slavery, child labor, and poverty. At the same time, entirely new words entered the English language — “sentimentality” in 1776, “sentimentalism” in 1818 — to describe a new kind of ethics and social imaginary that glorified the family and preached the redemptive power of sympathy. This course considers the role of sentimental narrative in nineteenth-century social struggle and its legacy today. In studying writings by the likes of Stowe, Harriet Wilson, Pauline Hopkins, Hawthorne, and Melville, as well as one or two more recent texts, we’ll come to understand the conventions of sentimental literature; consider the strengths and limitations of a politics of sympathy that seeks to transform society by means of the private emotional experiences of individuals; question the relationship of literature (and its study) to social agitation; and explore the role of nineteenth-century sentimentality in enshrining beliefs about emotional life, motherhood, childhood, identity, and political struggle that continue to be influential today. Fulfills the Early Literature requirement. (C2)

Credits

4