Autumn 2005
ENG 876: Seminar in Critical Theory: Interdisciplinary/Transmedial Narrative Theory
Denney Hall 265
TR 11:30 – 1:18
Instructor:  David Herman
Office: 409 Denney (office hours M 3:00 - 4:30, TR 5:30 - 6:30, and by appointment)
Phone: 292-6123; e-mail: herman.145[at]osu.edu

Web address for this syllabus: http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/herman145/ENG876.html

Welcome! This class aims to provide an overview of some of the many approaches to narrative inquiry that have emerged, in a variety of disciplines, during the past several decades. It will also explore the extent to which a transmedial theory of narrative—a theory valid for stories presented in different media—is possible. To get a better sense of the scope and limits of narrative itself, and to practice using ideas from various source disciplines (including literary theory, linguistics, social psychology, and others), we will examine several kinds of narratives. Our tutor-texts will include stories told during face-to-face interaction, written narratives (fictional as well as nonfictional), pictorial narratives (e.g., photographs, paintings), and multimedia narratives (e.g., graphic novels, film narratives, web-based hypertext fictions). A thematic strand running through all these narratives is the theme of transformation. By exploring texts that share this thematic focus, we will try to throw into relief the commonalities and contrasts among narratives presented in different media and different genres.
    Questions to be considered include the following: How transportable or generalizable are the theoretical paradigms under study? Can models for understanding narratives told in face-to-face interaction throw light on written narratives or pictorial narratives, and vice versa? When we move from single-medium to multimedia narratives, how can we adapt tools from narrative theory to handle this new order of complexity? To what extent does narrative tap into universal, in-built cognitive dispositions and capacities, and to what extent does it vary across contexts, (sub)cultures, and media?
    The overall purpose of the course is to provide you with the means to frame possible responses to these and other questions about narrative and narrative theory, and also to furnish you with tools for analyzing particular narrative texts in a variety of media. These tools should be useful to you in your future scholarship and teaching, no matter what the specific focus of your research.
 
TEXTS:   
+ two films (Orlando, Touching the Void) and items to be placed on electronic reserve. All items on e-reserve are marked "[ER]" on the course schedule below; click here to see a list of all these items

ASSIGNMENTS:

1.  Active class participation. I conceive of this class as a collective endeavor, so your attendance and participation are crucial for the success of the course!
2.  Leading part of a class-discussion (a sign-up sheet will be distributed so that you can choose a particular class meeting). To fulfill this requirement, you will need to consider (and share with the class) strategies for putting one or more of the theoretical sources assigned that day into dialogue with the "tutor-text" also assigned. You should be prepared to speak for about 15-20 minutes on ways in which dialogue of this sort might be promoted; discussion leaders will also field questions and comments from the class during/after their presentation. The primary goal is to give you practice at orchestrating class-discussions--and to make you more comfortable with sharing your ideas publicly--for the portion of the session that you lead.
    While preparing your remarks, think about ways in which the theoretical framework(s) can be used to generate productive interpretations of the text on which you are focusing. Conversely, consider how that text can throw light on both the possibilities and the limitations of the theoretical model(s). Short handouts outlining the main points of your presentation and/or listing key quotations can be effective communicative tools.
    You may very well wish to focus on the same tutor-text in the discussion you lead, in your midterm paper (see item 3 below), and in your final research project (items 5 and 6).
3.  A short (3-5 page) midterm paper, due Tuesday, November 1. We will discuss this assignment more fully in class, but in general, and like your presentation as class-discussion leader, your midterm paper should focus on the possibilities as well as the limits of the theoretical framework you are using as your investigative lens. When it comes to the tutor-text you choose to focus on, what aspects of that text does the theory help illuminate? Conversely, how did analyzing the text impact your understanding of the theory you used? 
4.  An abstract (250-500 words and double-spaced, please) corresponding to items 5 and 6 below. Abstracts should (a) state and describe the research problem you are addressing; (b) situate that problem in the context of previous scholarship devoted to the issue you intend to explore; and (c) indicate how your own approach to this problem will advance or enrich or refine prior scholarship in this connection.  Please include a title and a tentative bibliography. Abstracts are due Thursday, November 17.
5.  A 15-minute (= approximately 8-page) conference paper for oral delivery at the inaugural OSU Colloquium on Interdisciplinary/Transmedial Narrative Theory (all submissions guaranteed acceptance). The Colloquium will be held at the end of the term, time and place T.B.A.
6.  A longer, written version of item 5, around 15-20 pages. The paper is to be turned in by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6, at the latest; earlier submissions greatly appreciated. You need not hand in the shorter version of the paper that you present at the colloquium.

GRADES:

Your grade will be based on the following components (percentages are approximate!):

Leading a class-discussion = 20%
Midterm paper = 15%
Abstract = 10%
Oral presentation at colloquium = 20%
Long paper = 25%
Overall class participation throughout the term = 10%

COURSE SCHEDULE:

The following is tentative course schedule. Depending on the actual pace at which we proceed during the quarter, we may have to make adjustments to the syllabus as we go.

September

TH 22  Introduction: what is narrative anyway (and why study it)? Read Bruner [ER]; Ryan, "Narrative"; NAM, pp. 1-40; Herman and Vervaeck, pp. 1-10

Case studies in Face-to-Face Storytelling/Nonfictional Narrative in Print (I)

T 27  Please see the online story transcripts that can be found at http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/herman145/Story-Transcripts.pdf; also read Labov [ER]; NAM, pp. 41-107 (N.B. increasingly, recordings of stories told in contexts of face-to-face interaction can be found online; see, e.g., http://www.storycorps.net/)

Th 29  Part I: continued discussion of face-to-face storytelling: read NAM, pp. 108-37. Part II: nonfictional narrative in print 1: news (CNN news story about rescue of Pennsylvania miners), obituaries (http://www.obitpage.com/obits/h/harrison_george.html), faction (http://www.creativenonfiction.org/brevity/brev15/fellner_bowling.htm); read Dardenne, Gorman, and Starck [all on ER]. Recommended supplementary reading: Bell [ER]

October

Fictional Narrative in Print (I)

T 4  Kate Chopin, The Awakening; also read Prince [ER]; Herman and Vervaeck, pp. 11-101

Th 6  The Awakening; also read Herman and Vervaeck, pp. 103-75, and Harré and Langenhove, "The Dynamics of Social Episodes" and "Introducing Positioning Theory" [both on ER]

Noncinematic Visual Narrative: Painting and Photography

T 11  For this class meeting we will be relying on images that you can access via the History of Art Visual Resources Library at http://vrl.wmc.ohio-state.edu/. Also read NAM, pp. 139-77, and Wolf [ER]

Fictional Narrative in Print (II)

Th 13  Henry James, The Ambassadors; read Jahn, N.1 - N.4

T 18  The Ambassadors; read Jahn, N.5 - N.8  

Graphic Novel

Th 20  Art Spiegelman, In the Shadow of No Towers (meet at the Cartoon Research Library); also read Harvey [ER]. Recommended reading: Couch [ER] for background information on the Cartoon Research Library's exhibit on The Yellow Kid (N.B. If necessary, we will reserve some time at the end of this class meeting to discuss remaining issues/questions concerning James' The Ambassadors)

T 25  In the Shadow of No Towers; also read NAM, pp. 178-93; Carrier and McCloud [both on ER]. Recommended supplementary reading: Gardner [ER]

Fictional Narrative in Print (III)

Th 27  Virginia Woolf, Orlando; also read Margolin, "Introducing" and "Individuals" [both on ER]. Screening of Orlando in Room 19 of Lord Hall, 7:00 - 9:30 p.m.?

November

T 1  Orlando; Dolezel and Margolin, "Of What Is Past" [both on ER]; midterm paper due

Cinematic Narrative (I)

Th 3  Film version of Orlando; read NAM, pp. 195-266

(Postmodern) Narrative Poetry

T 8  Berryman and Hejinian; also read McHale, "Narrative in Poetry" and "Telling Stories Again" [both on ER]. Recommended supplementary reading: Hühn [ER]

Th 10  Berryman and Hejinian; also read Spahr and Warhol [both on ER]. Recommended supplementary reading: Friedman [ER]

Nonfictional Narrative in Print (II)

T 15  Touching the Void; also read Cohn, chapter 4 of Transparent Minds, Lejeune, and Löschnigg [all on ER]

Th 17  Touching the Void; also read Cohn, chapters 2 and 7 of The Distinction of Fiction [ER]; abstracts due. Screening of Touching the Void in Room 19 of Lord Hall, 7:00 - 9:30 p.m.?

Cinematic Narrative (II)

T 22  Film version of Touching the Void; read Grodal and Plantinga [both on ER]

Th 24  Thanksgiving Holiday

Computer-mediated Narrative (Hypertext Fiction)

T 29  Stuart Moulthrop, Reagan Library <http://iat.ubalt.edu/moulthrop/hypertexts/rl/>; read NAM, 329-403

December

Th 1  Reagan Library; read Ryan, "Introduction" and chapter 7 of Narrative as Virtual Reality [ER]; catching up/summing up

Colloquium on Interdisciplinary/Transmedial Narrative Theory (time and date T.B.A.)

Final papers due by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6