Fictions of the Far North

The far north is the setting for a significant body of North American literature in English. Both “far” and “north” are relative terms defined by cultural parameters rather than strict geographic coordinates. In this discussion-based course we will read novels, short stories, and poems set in Alaska, Newfoundland, the shores of Hudson Bay, and northern Vermont, including such works as The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx; Where the Rivers Flow North, by Howard Frank Mosher; Due North, by Mitchell Smith; Jack London’s short stories of the Klondike, and poems by Robert Service. We will pay particular attention to how these works represent the human relationship to high latitude ecosystems. (Not open to students who have taken FYSE 1370)