We will use novels by Sinclair Lewis, William Faulkner, Richard Wright, Alejandro Morales, and Philip Roth to test Isabel Alliende’s view that within every democracy, there are fascist elements. Lewis, Faulkner, Wright, Morales, and Roth, that is, will help us bring into the open the authoritarian, police state, proto-fascist, or fascist tendencies stirring on or under the surface of American political culture. Secondary works will give the novels and topic a historical and theoretical context. Current debates on such issues as the Patriot Act, immigration, Guantanamo, warrantless wiretaps, and claims for unlimited executive power are part of the context. Beneath the surface of these topics a volcano is stirring. Ditto for the novels. Keep your fingers crossed. The motto for the course is Gramsci’s dictum: pessimism of the mind, optimism of the will.
Primary texts: Lewis, Elmer Gantry, It Can’t Happen Here; Faulkner, Light in August, The Hamlet; Wright, either Lawd Today or Native Son; Morales, The Brick People; Roth, The Plot Against America.