| Contemporary Transgeneric Writing | Reed | MW 11:30-1:20 |
Contemporary Trans-Generic Writing. Since the 1960s, a growing number of women authors have begun writing works that refuse to abide by conventional rules governing literary genres. They mix prose and verse, combine images with text, place reportage side by side with autobiography, and otherwise blend modes, voices, and discourses. Much of this unusual corpus has been categorized as “poetry,” though the label is frequently misleading. Some has been pigeon-holed as écriture feminine, a French poststructuralist term even more unhelpful in important respects. To grapple with the phenomenon of contemporary trans-generic writing, this course will concentrate on reading closely a series of books by two figures, Ann Carson and Susan Howe. Supplemental readings will likely include excerpts from longer works by Gloría Anzaldúa, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Lyn Hejinian, Lisa Robertson, and Bernadette Meyer.
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