The multiple aims of the course are, firstly, to introduce students to the most significant tendencies and authors in 19th century American literature, secondly, to observe the cultural awareness of 19th century America, and, finally, to correlate the first two aims and to trace their literary appearance as factors influencing social consciousness. A specific aim of the course is to have students study tendencies shaping the literature of the USA in the 20th century.

The course requires basic knowledge of periods of literary history, terms and genres, essay-writing skills, advanced reading comprehension and language competence.

The content of the course: the literary legacy of the War of Independence, the nascence of national literature, E. A. Poe’s poetry and prose, transcendentalism: R. W. Emerson; transcendentalist philosophy and literature: H. D. Thoreau, Walt Whitman, romantic elements in N. Hawthorne’s works, Mark Twain’s America, and American realistic prose in the 19th century: S. Crane, realism at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries: Kate Chopin, Jack London, Henry James.