Scribes, Book Worms, and Bibliomaniacs: The Thrall of the Book
ENGL 355
Spring 2021 not offered
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| Course Cluster and Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory Certificate, Writing Certificate |
Even in the age of electronic and audiobooks one still hears book lovers exclaim on the unique sensation of "holding the physical book," the smell of its pages, and the pleasures (or transgressions) of being able to write notes in one's own physical copy. Loving books thus amounts to more than reading text, it often involves a relationship with the physical objects of books. The course has a two-pronged focus: the history of the evolution of the book as medium and the literature on the creation, collecting, and circulation of books. This means that we will be tracing the evolutions of reading and writing as technologies on the one hand, reading literary representations of this evolution on the other. Our discussions of bibliomania and the preservation impulse of archivists and book collectors will be accompanied by practical exercises with physical books in Special Collections. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CSCT)(ENGL) |
Major Readings:
David Finkelstein and Alistair McCleery, INTRODUCTION TO BOOK HISTORY (Routledge, 2012)
Geraldine Brooks, PEOPLE OF THE BOOK (2008)
Mark Daniliewski, HOUSE OF LEAVES (Pantheon, 2nd ed., 2000),
Orhan Pamuk, MY NAME IS RED
M. Nourbese Philip, ZONG (Wesleyan University Press 2011)
Colson Whitehead, THE INTUITIONIST (Anchor Books)
(Note: All other texts will be available on the course website; both Bibliomania and Bouvard et Pecuchet are in Public Domain are available for free online)
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Examinations and Assignments:
Two short written Library assignments (2-4pp), two medium-length essays (5-7pp.); one syllabus-entry assignment (5pp), and one longer research paper (12-15pp.) |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course fulfills the Theory requirement and contributes to the Theory & Literary Forms concentration of the English major. |
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