Call Number | 16575 |
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Day & Time Location |
W 12:10pm-2:00pm 476A ALFRED LERNE |
Points | 3 |
Grading Mode | Standard |
Approvals Required | None |
Instructor | Samantha Zighelboim |
Type | SEMINAR |
Method of Instruction | In-Person |
Course Description | “I believe—I know that ghosts have wandered the earth. Be with me always— take any form—drive me mad!” —Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
In this course we’ll expand our understanding of how writing is often the site of lingering, numinous, immaterial presences. We’ll begin with the tradition of the ghost story— a literary device beloved by writers for centuries across many genres. Beyond the consideration of the supernatural, we’ll also investigate more abstract capacities in which texts—and writers (and sometimes editors!)—are inevitably possessed by an other, a presence that lingers persistently, making itself known whether we welcome it or not. Memory and trauma are their own kinds of ghosts. Similarly, we’ll discover how traces of works by writers we admire, our teachers, even a specific text or image, can manifest as spectral forms inhabiting our work. We’ll address the complexities of those vestiges in terms of appropriation and originality—what Harold Bloom calls “the anxiety of influence.” Students will process and explore these ideas in both creative and analytical writings throughout the semester. Course Books (available at Book Culture): Eileen Myles, Afterglow Diana Khoi Nguyen, Ghost Of Lucie Brock Broido, Trouble in Mind Mary Reufle, A Little White Shadow Max Porter, Grief is the Thing With Feathers All other readings will be posted on Courseworks as PDFs. |
Web Site | Vergil |
Department | Writing |
Enrollment | 15 students (15 max) as of 5:08PM Saturday, September 7, 2024 |
Status | Full |
Subject | Writing |
Number | UN3023 |
Section | 001 |
Division | Interfaculty |
Campus | Morningside |
Fee | $15 Creative Writing C |
Section key | 20231WRIT3023W001 |