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Academic Year 2005/2006

The Prose Poem and the Politics of Genre
ENGL 327 FA

The prose poem challenges the very notion of genre-but what are the implications of this challenge and how does it reframe the perceived disciplinary limits of literature itself? With its western beginnings in 19th-century France, its development in modernist Europe and its resurgence in 1960s-70s America, the prose poem's history is intertwined with discourses of social and aesthetic change. While our focus in this course will be literary analysis, we will also examine the politics - aesthetic and otherwise - surrounding the prose poem's emergence as a genre. Discussion will extend into interdisciplinary hybrid works such as Theresa Cha's DICTEE and Lisa Robertson's XECLOGUE.

MAJOR READINGS

Readings will include Baudelaire's PARIS SPLEEN, Rimbaud's ILLUMINATIONS, Aime Cesaire's NOTEBOOK, Sei Shonagon's PILLOW BOOK, Theresa Cha's DICTEE, Rosmarie Waldrop's LAWN OF EXCLUDED MIDDLE, and much more.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Weekly responses, one short (5-7 page) midterm paper and one longer (7-10 page) final paper.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ENGL    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006

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