ENGL 8196 THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE (3 credits)
The literature in this course represents and explores major trends that subvert America's fascination with the "American Dream" narrative and even contend its opposite, an "American Nightmare." Over the twentieth century, many writers expressed a disillusionment with the breach that separates experiences in America from the "America" idealized by narratives of the founding roots and the constructed American Dream. Writers who have experienced or witnessed the marginalization or helplessness of large portions of the American population write in a variety of ways about the failures of this American Dream narrative. This course will analyze these expressions in American literature. (Cross-listed with ENGL 4190).
Prerequisite(s): ENGL 1160 or permission.