InfoCoBuild

ENGL 291: The American Novel Since 1945

Lecture 21 - Philip Roth, The Human Stain (cont.). In this final lecture on The Human Stain, Professor Hungerford argues that desire is the engine of narrative, for Roth, both at the structural level and in the very grammar of his sentences. Sex and writing are alike in their attempt to cross the boundaries between persons. Passing does not only occur racially, but is also likened to the process whereby a writer, like Roth or his proxy Nathan Zuckerman, comes to inhabit the subjectivities of other characters. One effect of these conflations - for example, Nathan standing for Faunia as he dances with Coleman - is to raise the threat of homoeroticism, which for Roth collapses difference with same-sex desire. Such stereotypes are a controversial characteristic of Roth's fiction, which nevertheless continues to draw great admiration. (from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 21 - Philip Roth, The Human Stain (cont.)

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. The Engine of Desire: The Structure of Roth's Language
[00:17:32] 2. Homoerotic Desire: The Danger of Overcoming Difference
[00:29:57] 3. Nathan as Narrator: Blankness or Secrecy?
[00:40:14] 4. Roth's Relationship to His Texts: Autobiography and Fiction

References
Lecture 21 - Philip Roth, The Human Stain (cont.)
Instructor: Professor Amy Hungerford. Topics for Paper 2 [PDF]. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Introductions
Lecture 02 - Richard Wright, Black Boy
Lecture 03 - Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood
Lecture 04 - Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood (cont.)
Lecture 05 - Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
Lecture 06 - Guest Lecture by Andrew Goldstone
Lecture 07 - Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (cont.)
Lecture 08 - Jack Kerouac, On the Road
Lecture 09 - Jack Kerouac, On the Road (cont.)
Lecture 10 - J. D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey
Lecture 11 - John Barth, Lost in the Funhouse
Lecture 12 - Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
Lecture 13 - Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
Lecture 14 - Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior
Lecture 15 - Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping
Lecture 16 - Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping (cont.)
Lecture 17 - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
Lecture 18 - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian (cont.)
Lecture 19 - Philip Roth, The Human Stain
Lecture 20 - Philip Roth, The Human Stain (cont.)
Lecture 21 - Philip Roth, The Human Stain (cont.)
Lecture 22 - Edward P. Jones, The Known World
Lecture 23 - Edward P. Jones, The Known World (cont.)
Lecture 24 - Students'Choice Novel: Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated
Lecture 25 - Students'Choice Novel: Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated
Lecture 26 - Review for Final Exam