AGAINST EXCESS

This class will look at formally and intellectually ambitious short books from the last century. The bulk of the coursework will consist of close reading and craft-oriented discussions examining how writers achieve narrative complexity, authority, and emotional impact within severe spatial limits. We will also consider the evolving role of the novel as a technology for capturing the tedium and transcendence of daily life, and ask how books might compete for attention in an increasingly distracted media environment. Are compact literary forms the answer to our ongoing literacy crisis? In an era where dopamine tolerance is at an all-time high and attention spans are at an all-time low, what strategies might a novel use to court the general reader? In other words, can a book be “scroll-stopping”? Should it even try to be?

Each unit will focus on a distinct aspect of craft. Students will produce short pieces of fiction or criticism throughout the semester, experimenting with narrative strategies drawn from the readings. The final project will be either a sustained piece of literary criticism or an excerpt from an original short novel accompanied by a critical introduction. 

The four major craft components of the course are: 

● Compression: How does a writer distill a work of literature to its most essential elements? What gives a text narrative economy? 

● Form & Constraint: This unit looks at experimental works that use formal constraints in place of traditional approaches, sometimes challenging or expanding the established conventions of the novel. 

● Lifewriting: We will look at a number of first person books whose narrator superficially resembles the author, considering how autobiographical experience is transformed into literary material. 

● Voice: This unit will explore how voice and style can court and conscript the interest, sympathy, or even disdain of the reader. We will also discuss the relationship between literary voice and contemporary attention economies.