ENGLISH 404:
FROM SCROLLS TO SCREENS:
THE MATERIALITY OF WRITING

Anne Trubek
Spring 2003
Thursday 1:30-4:15/King 235 (laptop classroom)
Office: King 139C
Office hours: Wednesday 3:00-6:00 or by appointment

Course Goals

Knowledge. This course considers writing as a material object. We willl explore how changes in writing technologies—from handwriting to printing to computers—influence the ways we read, write and think. Key issues include concepts of the “literary,” authorship, intellectual property, inscription and the role of new media in reshaping writing conventions and forms. Readings will be theoretical, historical, critical and creative.

Know-how. To learn how to think about writing as a material form. To speculate about the history of writing and its future. To experiment with old and new forms of writing and writing technologies. To decide which theories and methods of writing, writing history and new media enable and which constrain. To read carefully, think creativity, and produce writing that demonstrates concentrated and imaginative thought, writing that may be very different in genre, style and physical format from that with which we are accustomed. To theorize and actualize ideas and writings that one would not have been able to do before taking this course.

Course Materials

The books for this course are available at MINDFAIR (not the Oberlin College bookstore). All books are on reserve as well.

Honore de Balzac, Lost Illusions
William Blake, The Illuminated Blake (Erdmann, ed.)
Johanna Drucker, The Alphabetic Labryinth
Finkelstein and McCleery, ed. The Book History Reader
Homer, The Essential Iliad (Lombardo, ed.)
Albeto Manguel, History of Reading
James O’Donnell, Avatars of the Word: From Papyrus to Cyberspace
Rothenberg and Clay, ed. The Book of the Book: Some Works and Projections about the Book and Writing
Tribble and Trubek, ed. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital AgeCourse Procedures

The class will meet in King 235, the laptop seminar room. All readings should be completed before class begins. All students should arrive prepared to read from or show the class portions of their commonplace book or weblog entries upon that weeks’ reading (see “Course Requirements” below).
Many class sessions will consist of guest speakers or field trips:

Guest Speakers

This course is widely interdisciplinary. Therefore, many of the topics we will discuss intersect closely with specialized interests of various people around the College. I have guest speakers to come talk with us and lend us their expert knowledge on various issues. We will have discussions with the following speakers:

• Thomas Van Nortwick, Professor of Classics, will discuss orality and Homer
• Erik Inglis, Professor of Art History, will discuss illumination, scripts and Medieval manuscripts
• Ray English, Director of Oberlin College Libraries, will talk with us about scholarly publishing in the information age
• Jessica Grim, poet, will discuss her experiences publishing an e-book on the poetry site ubu.com

Field Trips

Currently, three class sessions are scheduled to take place outside the classroom.

• On February 6, we will spend half of the class period looking at “greatest hits” from the history of writing in Oberlin’s Special Collections.
• On Febrary 27, we will go to the Wolfgang Stechow Print Study Room in the Allen Memorial Art Museum to view Medieval manuscripts.
• On March 6, we will spend the afternoon at Idlewild Press, a letterpress printing studio, and have a demonstration of typesetting.

• The Toledo Museum of Art is holding an exhibition, “Splendid Pages” (see http://www.toledomuseum.org/exhibitions.html). They are also holding several very interesting talk and workshops (see http://www.toledomuseum.org/exhibitions.html).
• SPACES Gallery in Cleveland is holding an exhibit, “Page Me: The Art of ‘Zines, Comic Books and other Artist-Made Books” until February 21.
• The Cleveland Public Library holds a superb special collection of rare books.

Course Requirements

A Commonplace Book or Weblog.
Keep a print- or web-based diary/journal/log of your thoughts and ideas about the course. Each week I will offer several possible suggestions for ways to work through the material for that week. Many of these prompts will ask you to write with that weeks’ readings rather than about them, to experiment with forms and technologies rather than analyze concepts. For example, you might invent your own writing technology or writing system the week we discuss “Scribes and Scripts,” memorize a poem to deliver in class during “Orality” week, create a website that explores links as a new form of publication, etc. As you will be encouraged to work in various writing technologies, not all activities can be contained within a book or blog, and you may need to reflect upon or explain experiments rather than record them per se (i.e. memorizing a poem).
Commonplace books were bound volumes used in the Renaissance by the learned to record observations and copy their favourite poems or quotes, often with commentary. They were often ordered thematically. Jonathon Swift wrote that a “book of this sort, is in the nature of a supplemental memory, or a record of what occurs remarkable in every day's reading or conversation.” They were also used memory aids, and were the basis for subsequent oral performances.
Weblogs are online public journals (or, some would argue, latter day commonplace books). Users typically add entries frequently with whatever comes to mind, with many links embedded. Weblogs can be easily created through blogger.com. A good description of blogs can be found at http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/blogging_part_1.htm.

For a discussion of the connection between these commonplace books and weblogs, see http://www.digitalmedievalist.com/it/2002/02/08.html.

Those choosing to create a commonplace book for the course should be prepared to recite from it in class and to hand it in three times over the course of the semester. The class will have access to students’ weblogs through either either a class-based blog or Blackboard site. I will grade these holistically, assessing the level of involvement, thought and creativity invested. 30%

Individual or Collaborative Project and In-Class Presentation.
An independent project, preceded by an in-class presentation, on any topic of your choosing, of any length, in any media or form. The requirements are as follows:

1.) “Primary” research (this could include web-based readings of hypertext fiction, interviews with book collectors, experiential knowledge of a writing technology (i.e. learning how to set type), archival work in Special Collections or Oberlin College Archives, historical research, etc.
2.) Attention to the relationship of the materiality of the project itself (i.e. how do form and content relate? how best to present this material to the class? how best to “write up” the project?)
3.) Awareness of theoretical and/or historical issues involved, through careful reading of course readings and library research.

The range of possible projects is enormous. I encourage you to consider exploiting local resources, such as Mindfair (independent bookstore), Cleveland-based book collectors (the Rowfant Club), the “Scripted Page” exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art. I also encourage you to consider acquiring know-how of a particular writing or communication technology (memory arts, letterpress printing, the enormous gamut of new media forms). Those of you with an historical bent should certainly consider undertaking an archival project in consultation with Ed Vermue, Special Collections Librarian, Roland Baumann, Oberlin College Archivist or the Steven Sietz, Special Collections of the Cleveland Public Library. I encourage you to consider collaborating with a classmate on this final project.

In between each unit of the course one class period will be set aside to recap major themes from the previous unit, consider connections between units and presentations. You will sign up to present your project-in-process to the class on one of these three dates. Projects will be due April 10 for those who present on March 13, May 1 for those who present on April 17 and May 16 for those who present on the final class. I strongly suggest that graduating seniors sign up for one of the first two set of due dates. 50%

Class Participation. 20%

UNIT 1
THE HISTORY OF THE HISTORY OF WRITING

February 6--Introductions
In-Class Virtual Chat Introductions
Trip to Special Collections to view history of writing (Mudd 443)

February 13--Overview
James O’Donnell, Avatars of the Word
Walter Ong, “Orality and Literacy: Writing Restructures Consciousness” (BHR)
Charles Bernstein, “The Art of Immemorability” (BofB)
Dennis Baron, “From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies” (WM)

February 20--Orality
Guest Speaker, Professor Thomas Van Nortwick, Classics
Readings from Essential Iliad
Eric Havelock, from The Muse Learns to Write (handout)
Selections from Foley, “How to Read an Oral Poem” (handout)

February 27—Scribes and Scripts
Guest Speaker Professor Erik Inglis, Art History Class to be held in Print Study Room, Art Building
Roger Chartier, “The Practical Impact of Writing” (BHR)
Johanna Drucker, from The Alphabetic Labryinth, pp. 72-128
Johannes Trithemius, from “In Praise of Scribes” (WM)
Plato, from The Phaedrus (WM)

March 6—The Print Revolution
Trip to Carolyn Fraser’s Letterpress Printing Studio, Cleveland
Elizabeth Eisenstein, “Some Features of Print Culture” (WM)
Jan-Dirk Muller, “The Body of the Book: The Media Transition from Manuscript to Print” (BHR)
Hamlet online (web links)
Janet Murray, from Hamlet on the Holodeck (WM)
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March 13—Remembering, Reviewing, Rewriting
Individual or Group Presentations/Projects
Balzac, Lost Illusions
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UNIT 2
AUTHORS, TEXTS, READERS

March 20—The Author
Michel Foucault, “What is an Author?”(BHR)
Roland Barthes, “The Death of the Author” (BHR)
Mark Rose, “Literary Property Determined” (BHR)

March 27—Spring Break

April 3—Texts
William Blake The Illuminated Blake (David Erdmann, editor)
Jerome McGann, “The Socialization of Texts” (BHR)
Susan Howe, “These Flames and Generosities of the Heart: Emily Dickinson and the Illogic of Sumpturary Values”(BofB)

April 10—Readers
Alberto Manguel, A History of Reading
Wolfgang Iser, “Interaction Between Text and Reader” (BofB)
Frederick Douglass, from Narrative of the Life of Frederck Dougalass (WM)
Malcolm X, from Autobiography of Malcolm X (WM)
Roy Porter, “Reading is Bad for Your Health” (WM)
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April 17—Remediating Redux
Individual or Group Presentations/Projects
Henry Petroski, “Order, Order” (handout)
Steven McCaffery and bpNichol, “The Book As Machine” (BofB)
Jacques Derrida, “Edmond Jabes and the Question of the Book” (BofB)
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UNIT 3
THE FUTURE OF THE HISTORY OF WRITING

April 24—New Ways of Writing
Landow, “Twenty Minutes into the Future; Or, How are We Moving Beyond the Book?” (WM)
Steven Johnson, “Links” (WM)
Ian Parker, “Absolute Powerpoint” (WM)
Wendy Lesser, “The Conversion” (WM)
Adam Gopnik, “The Return of the Word” (WM)

May 1—Information and Knowledge
Guest Speaker, Ray English, Director of Oberlin College Libraries
Charles Mann, “Who Will Own Your Next Great Idea?” (Atlantic Unbound)
Paul Duguid and John Seely Brown, “The Social Life of Documents” (WM)
Picture Projects (http://www.picture-projects.com/)
Reading to be chosen by Ray English

May 8—The Literary; Or, What To Do With Old Foms
Guest Speaker, Jessica Grim, L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poet
Jane Douglas, “Millenum Stories: Interactive Narratives and the New Realism”(handout)
www.grammatron.com (Mark Amerika)
ubu.com
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Final Class (time tba)—Re: Materializing
Individual or Group Project/Presentation
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