230530 US-American Modernism(s) (S) (WiSe 2025/2026)

US-American Modernism refers to the cultural and literary movement taking place in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. Probably the largest amount of modernist fiction was produced during the interwar period, between World War I and World War II. With modernist writers such as Ezra Pound, T.S.Eliot, Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Nella Larsen, William Faulkner, Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Hurston, Jean Toomer, John Steinbeck (and the list could go on and on) US-American literature established an aesthetic and political voice of its own. Their work maps the dialogue between different cultural discourses and provides useful material for those interested in the cultural and historical complexity of the United States. This seminar will cover poetry and prose by several US-American modernist authors, with a focus on group discussions and close readings of the texts.