ENG 381 Periodical Studies

“The whole tendency of the age is Magazine-ward,” wrote Edgar Allan Poe in 1846, and from Poe’s time through our own, the magazine, whether print or digital, has been an important cultural form. In the history of literature, magazines have been critical to the careers of particular writers, such as Herman Melville and Kate Chopin, as well as to the development of entire literary genres and movements. This course examines the periodical as a major force in the history of modern literature and as a media form in its own right. Topics may include the role of the magazine in the development of fiction; evolving conceptions of copyright and authorship; serial publication and literary form; interactions between literary content and advertising content; and relations between mainstream mass-market magazines, modernist "little" magazines, and the Black press. Students will conduct research using digital archives. This course may be taken more than once, provided it addresses a different topic when taken again. Fulfills writing-intensive requirement. Prerequisites: ENG 112 or ENG 114 and two literature courses at the 200-level.

Credits

4