What does it mean to write, and to read, when the predominant form of self-expression for many of us resides in social media? What does it mean to construct a digital self, separate and apart from the selves that exist IRL? To interact primarily through the mediation of screens? In what ways do we commodify ourselves, and are we commodified? What risks do we run in revealing our inner most thoughts and feelings in an age of autocratic and capitalist surveillance, in which algorithms direct the attention once guided by more organic social forces? And how do all these issues affect the core mission of literature, which is to tell stories that reflect both the public self and the private one? We'll examine all these questions through a collection of texts, ranging from novels (Megha Majumdar's A Burning, Patricia Lockwood's No One Is Talking About This, Tao Lin's Taipei), essays (Jia Tolentino's Trick Mirror, Samantha Irby's wow, no thank you), and poems (Emily Berry's "Paris," Tommy Pico's "Junk"). We'll also consider these questions through some short writing assignments that ask students to engage in the creative act through the lens of social media. |