This course surveys the new types of experimental literary fiction that gained prominence in the United States in the latter half of the twentieth century. To examine the stylistic and philosophical fundamentals of literary postmodernism, we will first read texts written in the 1960’s by authors such as John Barth, Donald Barthelme, and Robert Coover. The latter half of the course concentrates on more recent examples of postmodernist textuality and the more general cultural consequences of postmodernism. We will also examine a few influential theories and concepts, watch two films, and consider the importance of other kinds of verbal and visual texts in the aesthetic project of postmodernism.
Assessment: class participation, a short presentation, and a course diary.