The Hybrid Moment

Catalog description

When Hamlet declares, "O 'tis most sweet,/When in one line two crafts directly meet" his context was violence and escape. In this class, the context will be hybridity of form and genre. Claudia Rankine's Citizen: An American Lyric, a collection of poetry that has been classified as criticism, creative non-fiction, and lyric essay, has become a major influence on contemporary literature. In this course, we will explore a multi-genre approach to poetry. Using CANE by Jean Toomer as our primary text, this course will attempt to utilize hybrid approaches that extend beyond the traditional line/stanza construct. Our readings and models will be drawn from work by Rankine, Gloria Anzaldúa, J. Michael Martinez, and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha. Weekly reading assignments will compliment workshops and a portfolio will be required at the end of the session.