English 624-001
Seminar in Modern Literature:
"Conversations with Contemporary American Fictionists"
Instr: Tatham, Cam
Office: CRT 392; 229-3504
e-mail: ctatham@uwm.edu
Office hours: by appointment
Course Information: MW; 4:00-5:15pm; CRT 368
Course Description
Each of the above listed authors has agreed to participate in a frank and challenging online conversation with the students in this course. We will be exploring various possible critical interpretations of and responses to these experimental texts, as well as the craft and technical innovations specific to each.
This course should be especially valuable to students, grad and undergrad, who are interested in contemporary American fiction, from the perspectives of both critics and writers. Students will be required to participate in an online forum, a conversation with each other and with the authors themselves, in which they explore their thoughts & feelings about these texts. They will select one writer on whom they will lead the discussion for one class and who will be the basis of an extended (20 page) research paper. (Grad students will do 25-30 pages.)
Required Texts
Raymond Federman, Aunt Rachel's Fur (FC2)
Lance Olsen, Girl Imagined by Chance (FC2)
Cris Mazza, Dog People (Coffee House Press)
George Clark, The Small Bees' Honey (White Pine Press)
Matt Roberson, 1998.6 (FC2)
Steve Tomasula, VAS (Barrytown Ltd.)
Alex Shakar, The Savage Girl (Perennial)
Elisabeth Sheffield, Gone (FC2)
Grade
Attendance + class participation = 20%; participation in on-line Discussion Forum = 20%; research project = 60%.
