ENG 4815 Spring 2022 Gants

This course explores the many ways in which we create, reproduce, circulate, and interpret a “text,” a term that encompasses all manner of human expression. We will approach the subject from several different avenues: Media, how humans have used clay and wood, paper and film, and electronic representations; Reproduction, how we employ scribes, printing presses, cameras, microphones, and computers to generate multiple copies; Agency, how multiple individuals shape the creation, reproduction, and content of texts; Genre, how we employ different forms with different expectations; Apprehension, how culture, criticism, paratexts, and other interpretive forces affect reception; Translation, how texts change across languages, cultures, and media; Commerce, how the business of text works.