American Bestsellers and Undersellers

Focusing on the long nineteenth century, we will consider formative American texts that were wildly popular in their time, as well as others that were overlooked for a variety of historical, social, and aesthetic reasons. We will ask what cultural factors contributed to a books popularity, enduring appeal, or dismissal. We will further explore how these texts confirmed or challenged dominant ideologies, and how reading them now can allow us to reflect on the desires, fears, and struggles of our own historical moment. Possible texts include: Hannah Webster Fosters The Coquette, Benjamin Franklins Autobiography, Lydia Maria Childs Hobomok, Frederick Douglasss Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Wilsons Our Nig, Herman Melvilles Moby Dick; Harriet Beecher Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin, Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Upton Sinclairs The Jungle.