This course will provide an introduction to studies of the novel. Our specific focus throughout will be on “family romances,” fictions that narrate social, political, and economic conflicts as family dramas. Together we will ask: why did emergence of the novel occur alongside the emergence of the nuclear family in the West? What is a “novel,” and which media are included or excluded from it at different times? What is a “family,” and which forms of intimate and domestic life are included or excluded from it at different times? To provide a broad introduction, we will read a range of writing from the late nineteenth through the late twentieth centuries. Novelistic media for this class will include realist and minimalist fiction and short stories. The course content will include a focus on race, gender, and sexuality.

This is a “W” course and will include 10-15 pages of graded out of class writing with an opportunity for revision.