English 2783 The Art of
Fact: Contemporary Literary Journalism
Russ Hunt
Fall 2013
Monday 7:00 - 9:45
Subject matter: what it's all about
In this course we will focus on a particular kind of writing -- what is often called "literary" or "extended" or "long form" journalism, using examples of this genre written since the middle of the twentieth century. More generally, we're going to be concerned with the ways in which writing about complex and controversial subjects is shaped and influenced by the context in which the writing appears (where was it published? when? who read it? what did they expect?), and by the interests and skills of the writer. It's important to recognize early on that one of my central assumptions is that writing doesn't have to be fiction, poetry, or drama in order to be worth serious attention: writing that addresses reality directly and immediately can be as important, rich and powerful as any traditionally "literary" writing (fiction, poetry, drama). Journalism, in other words, is not -- or at any rate doesn't have to be -- a trivial or superficial kind of writing.
This course will invite you to address questions of the rhetoric and ethics of journalism in general and particularly of the challenges of writing about issues which are immediately and practically important, complicated, and sometimes extremely contentious.
We will begin exploring this question by reading a range of essays, article, and introductory chapters about this kind of writing; and then we'll select some examples of it. The great majority of what you read in this course will depend on your own developing interests. Usually, each student will be reading different texts, and reporting on her reading (by writing about it) to the rest of the class. On the basis of these exploratory readings, we will choose some specific questions to discuss and some specific texts to focus on.
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