SUMMER SESSION

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ENGLISH 386-0 : Studies in Literature & Film: Baseball in American Narrative

Description

As cultural historian Jacques Barzun wrote, "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game..." Baseball functions in American culture as a compendium of narratives, an ongoing conversation about values and identity. From the Doubleday origin myth onwards, Americans have used baseball to grapple with two fundamental questions: what is America and who are Americans? This course will examine the different ways in which fiction writers, poets, essayists, artists, and filmmakers have used baseball as a metaphoric playing field to explore the conflicted construction of American identity.

Meets the post-1830 literature requirement for English Writing majors. Fulfills Area VI distribution requirement and Lit and Arts Foundational Discipline