Penning the Self(ie): Orality, Literacy, Digitality, and the Literary Subject

Catalog description

Phone in hand, questions loom in our head: is digital technology destroying memory, communication, and interpersonal relationships? Will our kids read and write cursive? Is print media disappearing? The notion of writing as a technology seems far removed from our fast-paced, digital world; but it was not so long ago that writing constituted a technological advance that permeated Western societies. This course examines key moments in writing’s history in order to understand its role in shaping the literary subject. We trace the shift from oral to written traditions in romance and courtly literature, then turn to the printing press, copyright and intellectual property, and conclude by examining how our relationship to writing in the past can inform our relationship to digital media in the present. Throughout the semester, students engage in an experiential learning project where they create a hero/ine whose story evolves from oral tradition, to written romance, to social media subject. Pre-requisite: None Fulfillment: Humanities Introductory course.