LIT 499-04: Getting a Life: Life Writing Genres and Practices
Professor: Ortiz-Vilarelle
Meetings: Wednesday 8:00am-10:50am
An intensive study of both traditional life writing practices, such as memoir and autobiography, as well as more contemporary automedial forms of self representation found on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms. Through a sampling of self-reflexive genres and sub-genres in which authors have described their experiences selfhood, seminar participants will study and apply attendant theory and collectively explore an array of artistic, professional, and cultural innovation of how we represent ourselves across various media. Focus on specific genres and acts of self-representation will allow deeper exploration of the literary tools of self-representation and how they can both obstruct and enable the way we record our lives..