American Nobel Laureates and the Question of Literary Value

Between 1930 and 2020, eleven Nobel Prizes for Literature have been awarded to American authors. In this course, students read a selection of texts by several American Nobel Laureates and discuss them in relation to key issues in literary studies, including literary value and valuation, literary quality or excellence, the designation of a literary classic, and the formation and conception of a literary canon. The course also treats questions of how and why certain literary works achieve cultural longevity while others are forgotten, considers literature both as a national institution and as a transnational discourse, and examines trends and developments in literary criticism and history. Instruction is in the form of seminars. In preparation for seminars, students read texts by American authors who have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, relate the texts to genres and literary periods, and reflect upon them with reference to secondary sources about literary value.