REGISTER for ENG 397U on BANWEB
How do computers change what counts as “literature” and how we read it?
This class is a hands-on exploration of new forms of literary production. We’ll open with T.S. Eliot’s 1922 classic “The Waste Land,” which he crammed full of allusions and designed to be read “slowly.” We’ll study “The Waste Land” in various contexts, both digital and textual. Then we’ll study how early vlogging projects like “The Lizzie Bennett Diaries” gives access to literary classics like Pride and Prejudice. What is the role of Instagram poetry in allowing new audiences to discover poetry? In what ways can Instagram Poetry, which is deliberately simple to understand, be compared to traditionally printed poetry? Instagram poetry was so popular that in 2017 it accounted for 60% of the top 20 poetry bestsellers in the U.S.!
In this class, we’ll both study and make digital literature.
We’ll also compare forms of reading: “distant reading,” which uses datasets to disclose patterns of word frequency and co-location, “surface reading,” where humans scan for patterns in digital outputs like bots, Instafeeds or memes, and “close reading,” the traditional form of humanistic inquiry where close attention to how a passage operates reveals the text’s key themes or motives.
No programming experience necessary!
This course welcomes majors from across Portland State University.
