Anne Brubaker
abrubakr@uiuc.edu

MWF 11am

What are books made of?  To answer this question, this course will consider the relationship between literature and technology from a variety of perspectives.  We will consider the technologies involved in bookmaking; how literary genres and literacy have evolved alongside the development of writing technologies; how different writing technologies — from handwriting, to typewriting, to word-processing — shape the form and content of the author’s work; how the medium through which we read the text (manuscript, paperback, computer, electronic book) influences the readerly experience; and finally, how communication technologies are, in turn, represented in fiction—what perceptions, anxieties, desires and critiques do such technologies inspire?

The reading list will include a diverse range of works such as the Book of Kells, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (General Prologue), selected speeches of Frederick Douglass, Mark Twain’s Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Anthony Trollope’s Telegraph Girl, short stories by Dorothy West, Dorothy Parker, E.M. Forster, Octavia Butler, selections from Gertrude Stein, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, and Richard Powers’ Galatea 2.2.  Course work will include short response papers, a group presentation, two 5-6 page critical essays, a midterm and a final.  Through response papers, students will have the opportunity to experiment with reading and writing through various mediums (e.g., typewriter, computer, text-messaging, and electronic book) as a way to better understand their own experiences with reading and writing technologies.