Course Description
Literature in English in relation to forms of media, past or present, to media environments, and to media change. Depending on the instructor, the course may concentrate on literature in the changing media ecology of the twenty-first century, or on historical interactions between literature and other media.
Athena Title
Literature and Media
Prerequisite
ENGL 1102 or ENGL 1102E or ENGL 1103 or ENGL 1050H or ENGL 1060H
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
From manuscripts to print, play performances to electronic texts, literary works have shaped and been shaped by their media environments. Most college literature classes focus on the form and content of literary works, but this class will also view them as concrete practices that take place within a media ecology. Understanding literature in relation to media past or present may also offer insight into its future in a world of electronic media. 1) Students will be able to analyze media and literary works via approaches such as media-specific analysis and comparative media studies. 2) Students will be able to discuss literary works as practices that take place in particular media environments. 3) Students will develop a diverse conceptual vocabulary for understanding literary works in relation to media environments or media history. 4) Students will develop their abilities to think critically, argue persuasively, and write incisively. 5) Students will enhance their practical sense of how media make a difference by presenting their own work in a variety of ways: via oral presentations, blogs, and traditional essays, for instance. 6) Students will have the opportunity to develop a collaborative digital project based on their work for the class.
Topical Outline
The class will focus on reading literature and literary theory in light of media theories, histories, and practices. The tools and approaches may include orality and literacy theory, North American media theory, media-specific analyses, hypertext and cybertext theory, comparative media studies, cultural studies of media, book history, performance studies, intermediality theory, and media archaeology. The choice and sequence of topics will vary from instructor to instructor and semester to semester. A historical approach might begin by reading literary works in relation to oral and literate cultures, then proceed to treat the printing revolution, the invention of new media technologies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the contemporary world of electronic media. An approach more focused on literature in today’s media ecology might read the production, distribution, and consumption of contemporary literary works as part of the variety of media systems and practices that characterize the twenty-first century.
Syllabus