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Theme The
themes for this semester are two. First, what is happening
when an author takes up an old, classic story and revises
it? or alludes to it? One of the well-known characteristics
of postmodern fiction, theater, and poetry is its tendency
to revise and ironically allude to past works, and so we
will ask ourselves the reasoning behind these revisions and
allusions.
Second, specifically, is the classic novel
by Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, at all relevant for
readers today? Consider recent census data that the
percentage of all children in the U.S. raised by single
parents has doubled since 1970. In 1998, 32% of all children
were born to unwed women, and this percentage appears to be
increasing and gaining acceptance by the mainstream media,
politicians, and large corporations who are beginning to see
single parents as a powerful consumer base and voting block.
Do these and other facts about the rapidly changing
socio-economic makeup of our world also mean that we need to
change the way we read or teach Hawthorne’s novel? How might
contemporary fiction that revises and alludes to the famous
letter help us to understand our changing world?
So, this semester, we will read several
works of literature by some of the major writers of today
who have all found inspiration from Hawthorne’s often read
but not always understood novel. What I believe will
surprise you is just how completely different each of these
novels and plays are from each other.
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