In this continuation of the lecture on The Human Stain, Professor Hungerford discusses how legal and market constraints shape literary works. She traces the history of censorship, highlighting significant examples, while addressing how publishing practices impact the types of literature that thrive. Roth's controversial representations of Judaism and women are examined in the context of his broader literary contributions.
In the introductory lecture, Professor Hungerford outlines the course requirements and central themes, utilizing an advertisement for James Joyce's Ulysses and a Nabokov essay to present differing views on reading literature. This session emphasizes the tension between emotional engagement and critical detachment, setting the stage for discussions on the publication controversies surrounding Richard Wright's Black Boy, exploring themes of truth, memory, and autobiography.
In this lecture, Professor Hungerford delves into Richard Wright's Black Boy, analyzing key passages that reveal the narrativeâs oscillation between socioeconomic struggles and the compensations found in sensual experience and imagination. The lecture also dramatizes the editorial conflict between Wright and Dorothy Canfield Fisher, highlighting the stakes of Wright's honest portrayal of America's ideals during World War II.
In this session, Professor Hungerford examines Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood, focusing on themes of faith and interpretation. By referencing O'Connor's correspondence, she introduces a critical framework rooted in her Catholicism, while encouraging exploration beyond redemption. Key questions arise about the perceptions of characters and readers alike, as well as how different methodologies shape these views.
Continuing the exploration of Wise Blood, Professor Hungerford provides additional contexts for understanding O'Connor's work. This lecture emphasizes the southern social context, particularly race and gender, as well as O'Connor's relationship with the New Critical movement. Through her analysis, Hungerford highlights the intersection of formal unity and religious influences in O'Connor's writing.
In this first lecture on Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, Professor Hungerford explores students' varied reactions to the novel, noting the tension between admiration for Nabokov's style and discomfort with its subject matter. The session contextualizes Nabokov's childhood in tsarist Russia, laying the groundwork for his thematic interests in memory, imagination, and language. Furthermore, Hungerford discusses how Nabokov's narrative techniques preempt moral judgments, celebrating the allure of language.
In this guest lecture, Teaching Fellow Andrew Goldstone introduces key Modernist concepts and Nabokov's relationship with literary forebears such as T. S. Eliot and James Joyce. By presenting the "knight's move" as a descriptor of Nabokov's style, Goldstone argues that Nabokov's parodies reveal his commitment to Modernist aesthetics, connecting his playful attitude towards tradition with themes of exile and violence in Lolita.
In the final lecture on Nabokov's Lolita, Professor Hungerford discusses the broader implications of the novel, focusing on debates surrounding censorship and the nature of artistic originality. She draws parallels between Nabokov's passion for lepidoptery and his concerns about the potential petrification of language in print, paralleling the thematic violence present in the narrative, ultimately questioning the preservation of living language.
In this lecture on Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Professor Hungerford contrasts the Beats' aspirations for direct language with Modernist complexities. She discusses how desire shapes the narrative, emphasizing the narrator's connections with Dean Moriarty, and argues that the pursuit of freedom on the road intertwines with the comforts of middle-class American domesticity, symbolized by recurring references to pie.
In the second lecture on On the Road, Professor Hungerford addresses the obstacles faced in achieving the novel's ambitions for American community. She critiques Sal Paradise's attempts to cross racial boundaries as exploitative, examines the degradation of Dean's exuberant language, and reflects on the enduring mystical vision of "America" that continues to captivate readers, scholars, and artists alike.
In this lecture on J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey, Professor Hungerford explores the theme of religion as it manifests in the novel. She presents a framework for constructing a literary critical paper, balancing broad claims with close readings of the text. Hungerford argues that Salinger roots his mystical insights in the specificity of personal relationships, illustrating how writing serves as a spiritual performance that fosters communication between the artist and audience.
In this lecture focusing on John Barth's Lost in the Funhouse, Professor Hungerford examines the metafictional aspects of Barth's work, revealing the intricate relationship between language and love. She discusses how desire can both propel and disrupt narratives, emphasizing the tension between the written word and its oral origins. This inquiry raises questions about whether language can ever truly represent bodily presence.
In this lecture, Professor Hungerford introduces Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, focusing on the relationship between language and the elusive concept of "the Real." She discusses how previous authors have approached themes of meaning and emotional response, situating Pynchon within the political turmoil of the 1960s. Hungerford argues that Pynchon, like Flannery O'Connor, is deeply invested in exploring connections while also lamenting their absence.
In this lecture on Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Professor Hungerford contrasts Morrison's approach to language with previous authors, emphasizing the violence inherent in language for an African-American woman writer. She highlights the dual nature of breaking silence: both a powerful act of recuperation and a potential invasion. Morrison's narrative intricately portrays a young black girl constructing a complex identity within the void of her social persona.
In this lecture, Professor Hungerford introduces Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior and articulates her guiding thesis of the "Identity Plot." She argues that contemporary novels often explore the tension between individual and collective identities, paralleling the traditional Marriage Plot of the nineteenth century. Kingston's work serves as a poignant example of how identity is constructed and contested in the American literary landscape.
In this lecture on Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping, Professor Hungerford places the novel within a tradition of American literature that explores the relationship between individuals and nature, referencing influences from biblical texts, Herman Melville, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. She emphasizes how the interplay between identity and the material world shapes the consciousness of the characters, raising questions about fixity and fragility in the human experience.
In this second lecture on Robinson's Housekeeping, Professor Hungerford facilitates a student-led discussion where six students present their proposals for a contemporary novel to conclude the syllabus. While the class votes, she reflects on the theme of loss in Robinson's work, particularly focusing on the "anorexic aesthetic" that raises complex feminist interpretations regarding absence and desire in literature.
In this first lecture on Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, Professor Hungerford discusses the major influences on the novel, examining how McCarthy interacts with literary tradition and American history. She highlights significant sources such as the Bible, Moby-Dick, and historical narratives, framing Blood Meridian as a meditation on history, originality, and the boundaries of narrative.
In the second lecture on Blood Meridian, Professor Hungerford builds a nuanced argument about morality in the novel, using the protagonist's illiteracy and his Bible as a focal point. She explores how McCarthy's narrative structure invites readers to view the character through a traditional heroic lens while simultaneously subverting moral expectations, emphasizing the materiality of language and its ambiguous implications.
In this lecture on Philip Roth's The Human Stain, Professor Hungerford investigates how the novel intersects with the concept of the Identity Plot. She examines the complexities of race within the narrative, exploring themes of concealment and identity formation as they relate to desire and narrative progression. Roth's exploration of secrecy serves as a driving force within the story.
In this continuation of the lecture on The Human Stain, Professor Hungerford discusses how legal and market constraints shape literary works. She traces the history of censorship, highlighting significant examples, while addressing how publishing practices impact the types of literature that thrive. Roth's controversial representations of Judaism and women are examined in the context of his broader literary contributions.
In this final lecture on The Human Stain, Professor Hungerford argues that desire is central to Roth's narrative structure. She explores the ways in which desire enables characters to cross boundaries and how Roth's writing collapses differences, raising questions about homoeroticism and the interplay of identity. Hungerford highlights the complexity of Roth's characters and the controversial aspects of his work.
In this first lecture on Edward P. Jones's The Known World, Professor Hungerford discusses the significance of knowledge within the narrative. She poses questions about the nature of knowledge, who possesses it, and how it is communicated through storytelling. The lecture compares Jones's approach to historical knowledge with that of other authors, emphasizing his revival of the omniscient narrator's role.
In the second lecture on The Known World, Professor Hungerford addresses Jones's complex relationship with literacy, illustrating how narrative serves to unite a fragmented world. She reflects on the fragility of text and the moral dilemmas surrounding slavery and freedom. Jones's unique literary self-consciousness provides a poignant commentary on the power and limitations of storytelling within contemporary novels.
In this first of two lectures on Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything is Illuminated, Professor Hungerford explores the novel's themes and stylistic elements. She highlights how Foer adapts influences from earlier authors while addressing historical traumas through narrative. The session emphasizes the blending of nineteenth-century social novel with postmodern techniques, examining the risks of emotional resonance and sentimentality.
In the final lecture of the course, Professor Hungerford evaluates Everything is Illuminated concerning American writing about the Holocaust. She discusses trauma theory, examining the novel's exploration of pain and healing through repetition. Foer's unique perspective on the inheritance of the Holocaust shifts the traditional narrative focus, addressing the complexities faced by third-generation Jews in America.
In this review session for the final exam, Professor Hungerford engages students in a practice question forum, providing insights into exam expectations. She offers study strategies based on her experience and addresses students' inquiries regarding syllabus choices and preferences, fostering a collaborative atmosphere for preparing for the exam.