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In her poem, "The Novel", Denise Levertov tries to decide whether destruction or creation is fiction's central mode. She decides on the latter: "something sundered begins to knit." The novelist Don DeLillo offers a different view: "the idea of death is woven into the nature of every plot." How is violence a problem for literature? How is it a solution? Is violence only a subject and theme or does it inhere in writing itself? Do we change the meaning of violence when we apply it to literature? Finally, how has violence of language come to be such a preoccupation for contemporary novelists, theorists and critics? These questions will guide our inquiry into the intersection of violence and literature.
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ENGL Grading Mode: Student Option
Prerequisites: ENGL201
Last Updated on MAR-19-2002
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