2022 Emigration/Immigration: Midwestern Texts

Prerequisites

One year university level education; some literary studies are recommended

Course Objectives

After completing this course, the student should be able to: Point out main factors behind emigration from Norway to the United States. Identify the main stages of Norwegian immigration to the United States. Describe the main aspects of the immigrant community in the United States. Discuss how immigrants establish identity through letter /diary writing. Reflect upon the assimilation process of Norwegian immigrants in the United States as a basis for insight into the challenges of immigration in general. Analyze literary aspects of ethnic texts. Indicate how literature may be used as a secondary source of historical information.

Learning Methods

3-4 hrs/ week, 16 weeks pr semester, fall semester

Lectures, discussions, oral presentations, mandatory readings, response papers and library research

Course Description

A variety of Scandinavian-American texts will be discussed on an interdisciplinary basis. Most texts are selected from the early decades of the twentieth century, a time when Scandinavian-American culture flourished. The novels and cultural criticism of Ole E. Rolvaag and Drude Krag Janson will be central to our discussion. Midwestern texts related to a Norwegian-American rural setting will provide links to the immigrant culture of the past. Novels,diaries, memoirs, letters and essays will be studied. All texts will be read and discussed in English.

Assessment Methods

Portfolio including 1 oral presentation; 2 response papers + 1 mid-term paper = 40 %; final written, essay examination 60%
All assesssed elements of the course must be passed to pass the course.

Pensum