North American Culture - Rural Spaces, Urban Spaces

Code:

FLUP0833

Acronym:

CNAERE

Instance: 2006/2007 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Anglo-American Studies
Institution Responsible:	Faculty of Arts

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
EAA	10	Official Study Plan - LEAA	2	2,5	5	-
			3
EFI	6	Official Study Plan - LEFI	2	2,5	5	-
			3
EIA	12	Official Study Plan - LEIA	2	2,5	5	-
			3
			4
EPI	12	Official Study Plan - LEPI	2	2,5	5	-
			3

Objectives

The programme of North-American Culture as presented below aims to enable the study of one of the central themes of the cultural history of the United States: the cultural meaning of ruralism and of urbanism in America and the respective complementarity/opposition in different moments of the country’s History.

Program

Between the view of those that perceive the rise of the cities in the United States as a direct reflex of its own national history and the view of those that, on the contrary, outline the importance of the urban development phenomenon as somewhat singular and independent, it is perhaps possible to find an intermediate perspective: one that could make the articulation between the rural spaces and the urban spaces clear. This perspective will also allow for the perception of the urban space as a reflex of tensions and conflicts of a social, political and cultural nature.

The theoretical component of this subject will be based upon Thomas Jefferson’s, Leo Marx’s and Henry Nash Smith’s points of view, and it will fall upon texts comprised in the collection edited by Alexander Callow as well, mentioned in the bibliographical index below. Each one of these authors adds to the analysis of one of the conflicts that are most systematically present in North-American collective life: what opposes rural space and urban space, whether because of the valuation of the virtues related to the closeness and influence of nature, or of the – unequal - sharing of a common space, with the possibility of having access to a broader set of goods and services.
With respect to the practical component, the programme will be diachronically based upon the following topics:

1. Rural space vs. urban space: both sides of America.
2. Rural spaces and urban spaces in American culture – from the Independence to the Civil War; the cities of the South and of the Western frontiers.
3. Industrialization and its consequences in rural and urban spaces of the United States.
4. The 20th century and the rise of the great metropolitan areas:
4.1. From “small town” to “big city”: Prohibition as an example of the perseverance of rural values in 20th century America;
4.2. The social conflicts: inequalities rousing from race, social class and economic situation;
4.3. The suburbs as a marked presence of rural space within the boundaries of the urban space;
4.4. From Central Park to Times Square: rural spaces and urban spaces in the great metropolis.

5. Pastoralism, Urbanism and American Democracy.

Main Bibliography

Explanatory note: the titles comprised in the bibliographical index below will be made available for students’ use, some of them in particular will be studied in class.
During the academic year, references to complementary bibliography will be provided for some subject matters.
Electronic resources will be put into use whenever convenient, including visual information aids such as films or documentaries.


Bertens, Hans and Theo D'haen (eds.), The Small Town in America: A Multidisciplinary Revisit, Amsterdam, Vu Univ. Press, 1995

Byer, Robert H., “Mysteries of the City: A Reading of Poe’s ‘A Man of the Crowd’ in Bercovitch, Sacvan and Myra Jehlen (eds,), Idelogy and Classic American Literature, Cambridge, Cambridge UP, 1986, pp 221-246

Callow, Jr., Alexander B., American Urban History: An Interpretive Reader, NY, Oxford U, Press, 1982.

Clecac, Peter, America’s Quest For The Ideal Self, New York, Oxford UP, 1985

Chudacoff, Howard and Judith Smith, The Evolution of American Urban Society, NY, Prentice-Hall, 1993.

Cook, David M. and Craig Swander (eds.), The Small Town in American Literature, NY, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1969.

Jacobs, Jane, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, NY, Vintage Books, 1992.

Krabbendam, Hans et al. (eds.), The American Metropolis: Image and Inspiration, Amsterdam, Vu Univ. Press Amsterdam, 2002.

LeGates, Richard and Frederic Stout (eds.), City Reader, NY and London, Routledge, 2000.

Machor, James L. Pastoral Cities: Urban Ideals and the Symbolic Landscape of America , Madison: U of Wisconsin P, 1987.

Marx, Leo, The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America, NY, Oxford UP, 1999 [1964]

Marx, Leo, “Pastoralism in America”, in Bercovitch, Sacvan and Myra Jehlen (eds,), Idelogy and Classic American Literature, Cambridge, Cambridge UP, 1986, pp.36-69

Russo, David J., American Towns: An Interpretive History, Ivan R. Dee, Inc., 2001.

Scheese, Don, Nature Writing: The Pastoral Impulse in America, New York, Routledge, 2002.
SMITH, Henry Nash. Virgin Land: The American West As Symbol and Myth, Hypertext version prepared by the American Studies Group at The University of Virginia 1995-96. Editing and formatting by Eric J. Gislason, February-March 1996. http://xroads.virginia.edu
Wade, Richard C., The Urban Frontier: The Rise of Western Cities, 1790-1830 Chicago, Univ. of Illinois Pres, 1996.

Warner, Jr. Sam Bass The Urban Wilderness: A History of the American City, Los Angels, Univ. of California Press, 1995.

Complementary Bibliography

to be provided throughout the semester

Teaching methods and learning activities

Lectures on theoretical contents; analysis of texts related to the different topics of study.
Use of audiovisual aids (video) and access to websites providing information related to some of the issues addressed in classes.

Software

N/A

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Eligibility for exams

N/A

Calculation formula of final grade

Final exam.

Examinations or Special Assignments

N/A

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

N/A

Classification improvement

N/A

Observations

Language of instruction: Portuguese, with bibliography in English