Middlebury

ENAM 0223

Rewriting Literature

Creative Derivation: Rewriting, Remaking, and Unmaking Literature
The American experimental poet Robert Duncan famously described his work as “derivative.” His contemporary, Ronald Johnson, once remarked: “I read to steal.” In this course we will take these articulations of reading-focused poetics as a premise for surveying seventeenth- through twenty-first-century literature that enacts the reading of other texts; repurposes the narratives and terms of canonical or hegemonic writing; or uses critique as a means of generative engagement. Along the way, we will consider the stakes of rewriting or reworking texts across cultural, historical, generic, and formal distances. Students will be invited to pursue creative final projects. 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Subject:
English & American Literatures
Department:
English & American Literatures
Division:
Literature
Requirements Fulfilled:
LIT
Equivalent Courses:

Sections in Spring 2022, School Abroad Spain (Madrid)

Spring 2022

ENAM0223A-S22 Lecture (Sheldon)