From one point of view, it does not make much sense to isolate American modernism: American writers (some of them living in London or Paris) participated in literary and philosophical movements pointedly not defined by national boundaries. From another point of view, not only were American writers deeply engaged in discovering the meaning of American art, but they were also engaged in a radical reevaluation of what it means to be an American in the first place. In fact, some of the canonical works that we value for their stylistic virtuosity are engaged in overt or covert redefinitions of America in terms of race, ethnicity, and sexuality. So the issue of the course is the relation of style and American-ness as defined at the beginning of the twentieth century. We shall look primarily at writers of novels (e.g., Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Faulkner, Dos Passos, Cather) and prose of indeterminate genre (Stein, Toomer). Requirements: a short paper, a long seminar paper (15-20 pages), and class participation. Major Seminar. Permission of English Department chair required; see information above. Enrollment limited to 15. (Criticism or Post-1900)