ENG 245 - Book History, Arts, Culture

As the book has undergone a rapid century of changes, how have poets, fiction writers, and theorists imagined and come to terms with “the book” and “the library”? How do ideas of “the library” and “the book” vary in theory and practice? In the era of e-readers and nearly infinite digital storage capabilities, why own books at all? This course will examine the contested status of the printed object in the 21st century as a development of events in the 20th. Readings may include Benjamin, Borges, Danielewski, Drucker, Howe, Kittler, McLuhan, Van Vliet, and several film screenings. (Writing-intensive.) (Theory or Theme).