AML 4213 Spring 2019 Klgore

How does Tallahassee choose to preserve, narrate, and commemorate its early history through museums, memorials, monuments, and other historical sites? What does Mission San Luis say—or not say—about Spanish colonization of the area, the Tallahassee Museum about plantation slavery, the Historic Capitol and Natural Bridge Historic Park about the Civil War? What kind of unofficial histories are buried in the Florida State Archives, and how is the indigenous history of Florida packaged at the Museum of Florida History? How does the literary archive of Florida open up or reveal perspectives on Florida history and culture that the above places fail to consider? This course will tackle difficult and timely questions such as these by surveying the early literature of Florida from the period of first nations through the nineteenth century, and then putting our reading into conversation with sites of public memory in and around Tallahassee. That means we will visit said sites, analyze the material rhetorics of history and place, and discuss the political, cultural, and literary legacy of Florida, yesterday and today. Our goal will be to explore old Florida literature as itself a form of cultural memory that shapes both the history and imagination of the state; conversely, we will approach sites of public memory as embodied narrative forms which tell stories about Florida at the intersection of fact and fancy, history and myth.

Please note that by signing up for this course, you are agreeing to make 7 off-campus trips in Tallahassee for a homework assignment, and thus you must have the means of transportation or make the transportation arrangements necessary to do so. By looking at the schedule, you can prepare in advance and visit the off-campus sites at a convenient time.