Critical Whiteness Studies and Teaching Nineteenth-Century American Literature

Abstract

Abstract This article argues for implementing a Critical Whiteness studies approach to canonical White literature. After providing an overview of Critical Whiteness studies, I discuss examples from teaching nineteenth-century American literature where Critical Whiteness approaches are fruitful. Alongside widening the selection of what we teach in English departments, incorporating Critical Whiteness studies as part of decolonizing the curriculum reorients how we teach canonical White literature that remains on our syllabi and supports students to recognize continuing discourses of White supremacy today.