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GERM 365 writing machines: the language of media 
-- Philip K. Dick This course is about the study of media from the inside. Looking at literary texts produced in a variety of media (book, radio, television, internet), we will explore how communications technologies have impacted forms of human expression and thought over the last one-thousand years. How can a history of literature (from the Latin, "littera," the technology of the letter) allow us to reflect on our ever-changing communications environment and imagine new ways of sharing knowledge? How can an understanding of our media past tell us something about the possibilities of our media future? When we dream today, is it in print, photographs or hypertext? Readings will range from the medieval Nibelungenlied to recent experiments in hypertext fiction, covering such authors as Poe, Goethe, Mallarmé, Kafka, the Berlin Dadaists, Beckett, and Don DeLillo among others. |