D. H. Lawrence and American Literature

Known as a rebel author who confronted political, religious and societal norms of his country in the early twentieth century, the English modernist novelist and poet D. H. Lawrence (1885 - 1930) nurtured an intimate relationship with the United States. Yearning to find a solution to social ills of European civilization, he travelled to the American West and resided in New Mexico for two years; during this stay, he completed and published Studies in Classic American Literature (1923) and celebrate distinctive nature of American literary works. In return, he inspired numerous prominent American authors such as Sherwood Anderson, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Kay Doyle and Norman Mailer. This course provides an overview of Lawrence’s connection with the United States through engagement with literary and non-literary texts written by him and those whom he influenced. The course also touches upon the American reception of his scandalous Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1928).