ENGL 693: Writing the Real in Recent American Literature

"When we say a thing is unreal, we mean it is too real, a phenomenon so unaccountable and yet so bound to the power of objective fact that we can’t tilt it to the slant of our perceptions." - DeLillo

"The pure and simple representation of the real, the naked relation of what is (or has been) thus appears as a resistance to meaning...." - Barthes

"Disneyland is there to conceal the fact that it is the real country, all of real America, which is Disneyland (just as prisons are there to conceal the fact that it is the social in its entirety, in its banal omnipresence, which is carceral). Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real, when in fact all of Los Angeles and the America surrounding it are no longer real, but of the order of the hyperreal and of simulation. It is no longer a question of a false representation of reality (ideology), but of concealing the fact that the real is no longer real, and thus of saving the reality principle." - Baudrillard

The primary focus of this course is reading recent American narrative texts, but we will also look at other modes of cultural inscription (literary fakes, hybrid narrative/documentary texts, graphic novels, poetry, tv, etc.). We will approach the readings in terms of practices and problematics of writing towards the real. On the one hand, these writings register the impact of globalizaton and mass mediatization; on the other hand, they exhibit counter-strategies of intermediality, body-writing, writing as dispersion, and so on. Because of the short summer semester, the readings are representative rather than comprehensive, intended as a series of case studies and engagements with the central problematic. Class format is reading and discussion.

Texts

David Boring, Daniel Clowes, Pantheon Books, ISBN-10: 0375714529 ISBN-13: 978-0375714528

Doubled Flowering: From the Notebooks of Araki Yasusada, Araki Yasusada, Segue Foundation, ISBN-10: 0937804711 ISBN-13: 978-0937804711

Essential Acker: The Selected Writings of Kathy Acker, Kathy Acker, Grove Press, ISBN-10: 0802139213 ISBN-13: 978-0802139214

The Journalist, Harry Mathews, Dalkey Archive Books, ISBN-10: 1564781658 ISBN-13: 978-1564781659

My Dark Places, James Ellroy, Vintage Books, ISBN-10: 0679762051 ISBN-13: 978-0679762058

My Life, Lyn Hejinian, Green Integer Books, ISBN-10: 1931243336 ISBN-13: 978-1931243339

Poor People, William Vollmann, Ecco Books, ISBN-10: 0060878827 ISBN-13: 978-0060878825

White Noise, Don DeLillo, Penguin Books, ISBN-10: 0140283307 ISBN-13: 978-0140283303

Requirements

• In-class instigation. Not a presentation nor a summary, but leading discussion, raising provocative questions, focused on specifics in the reading and on critical problems. Instigations will start July 9. Requirements: background research as necessary; handout for class with three provocative questions to guide the class into the assigned text, including supporting references to the text (500 words minimum); start class discussion with an extended engagement with at least one of the questions. 25%

• Three short essays, 5 pages each, due July 13, July 27, and Aug 10. Deliver essays by midnight on the due date, to Sandy via email, as a Word or .rtf attachment. Essay genres: 1) literature review (review two secondary sources on one of the assigned texts during the previous two weeks); 2) close reading (focus on a single passage in one of the assigned texts during the previous two weeks); 3) theoretical reading (apply / test a theoretical paradigm on one of the assigned texts during the previous two weeks). Do all three essay genres, but in any order i.e. choose which genre to write and to hand-in at each due date. 25% x 3 = 75%
• I assume that graduate students will attend class and prepare work in a responsible and professional manner. Failure to do so will hurt your overall grade.

Academic Integrity

West Virginia University expects that every member of its academic community shares the historic and traditional commitment to honesty, integrity, and the search for truth. Academic dishonesty includes plagiarism, cheating and dishonest practices; and forgery, misrepresentation, or fraud. Here is WVU's Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism Policy.

Social Justice Statement

"West Virginia University is committed to social justice. I concur with that commitment and expect to maintain a positive learning environment based upon open communication, mutual respect, and nondiscrimination. Our University does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, disability, veteran status, religion, sexual orientation, color or national origin. Any suggestions as to how to further such a positive and open environment in this class will be appreciated and given serious consideration. If you are a person with a disability and anticipate needing any type of accommodation in order to participate in this class, please advise me and make appropriate arrangement with Disability Services (293-6700)."

Schedule (All reading and work is due on the date indicated)

July 2 Introduction. Read, print out, and come to class prepared to discuss Alphonso Lingis "Word of Honor" Paragraph 22:2 Jul 1999 (via EBSCO host).

July 3 Read, print out, and come to class prepared to discuss George Saunders "In Persuasion Nation" Harper's Magazine 311:1866 Nov 2005 (via EBSCO host), George Saunders "Brad Carrigan, American" Harper's Magazine 310:1858 Mar 2005(via EBSCO host), and Charles Bernstein "Ballad of the Girly Man" Milk Magazine Vol 6(http://www.milkmag.org/CHBERNSTEIN6.html)

July 4 Holiday

July 5 Don DeLillo White Noise

July 6 Don DeLillo White Noise

July 10 Daniel Clowes David Boring

July 11 Daniel Clowes David Boring

July 12 Harry Mathews The Journalist

July 13 Essay Due

July 17 Harry Mathews The Journalist

July 18 Lyn Hejinian My Life

July 19 Lyn Hejinian My Life

July 24 James Ellroy My Dark Places

July 25 James Ellroy My Dark Places

July 26 Kathy Acker The Essential Acker, Kathy Acker "Paragraphs" Journal of MMLA 28:1 Spr 1995(via JSTOR).

July 27 Essay Due

July 31 Kathy Acker The Essential Acker

August 1 Araki Yasusada Doubled Flowering

August 2 Araki Yasusada Doubled Flowering

August 7 William Vollmann Poor people

August 8 William Vollmann Poor people

August 9 Reality TV and conclusions. Last class.

August 10 Essay Due