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Intersections

Welcome to our second blog post! Last time, we looked at the various transformations of classroom pedagogy and rhetoric since the mainstream introduction of web-based technologies. But how does literature fit into this new, developing paradigm? In what ways has the digital influenced literature and literary criticism?

Though there may sometimes seem a divide (an artificial one, anyway) sectioning rhetoric, literature, and technology, Currents has always been intent on bringing forth areas of intersectionality. Its very first issue included a written and interactive introduction to a collaborative, online database. “Hypertext and Literary Learning: A Discussion of the Dictionary of Sensibility” is just that – an overview of the pedagogical and academic uses of an extensive internet dictionary that tracks the “language of sensibility” while providing a riche cache of secondary sources.

Fall 2001’s special issue is indeed, quite special. It is entirely devoted to the changing landscape of poetics – of reading, writing, and analyzing poetry within a digital age. This is a notable issue not just for its discussions of e-texts and exploring canon through technology, but for its inclusion of creative works. Deena Larsen’s poem “Sea Whispers” is an early example of hypermediated writing, with its play on visual aesthetics and its clever use of hyperlinks. The separations between rhetoric, literature, and media are small indeed.

For the final, highlighted article in this post, I’ve chosen Alan Liu’s 2008 contribution, “Literature+.” In it, Liu outlines a “suite” of interdisciplinary courses he designed titled, “Literature+” (fittingly, there is a wiki page for this digital concept). Liu goes into great and exciting depth, explaining the structure and content of the course, as well as the nature of students’ assignments. The goals are many, but one of the most relevant – even now – is the idea of introducing common, applicable elements (new models and simulations of literary studies inspired by other fields and other vocabularies) across all disciplines, bridging C.P. Snow’s “two cultures” divide.

Though the idea of difference and incompatibility between the humanities and the sciences (to generalize) is pervasive, you have only to look at the work collected above to realize that these are superficial distinctions. Academia – and pedagogy – can and will be more enriched so long as we remember the existence of interdisciplinary possibilities.

-Lily

 

 

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