Course Description for "But Is It Art?: Art and Artists in Postmodern American Literature"

Tomorrow's the last day of classes for the Spring 2004 semester, but I've already got the Summer 2004 semester on my mind. I'm hoping I can succeed at getting my students, most of whom will likely have no idea what the topic of my Engl 109 course will be, to get out and visit the Art Institute and develop an interest in modern and postmodern art.

But Is It Art?: Art and Artists in Postmodern American Literature
Eric Rasmussen
English 109: American Literature and American Culture
Summer 2004, University of Illinois at Chicago

Course Description
What is art? Who creates art and why? How and what does art communicate and how are we to understand it? These are some of the general questions we will address via a select body of recent American literature that is specifically engaged with art (artworks, artists, and the artworld). Reading Cynthia Freeland’s But Is It Art?, a basic introduction to aesthetic theory, along with a sampling of novels, short fiction, poetry, criticism and film will enable us to assess a range of positions about the meaning and significance of art in postmodern America. We will be particularly interested in how the models of human subjectivity implied in these works relate to manner in which artworks or texts are imagined to signify.

The literary authors we read and discuss, some of whom are also non-literary artists in their own right, will likely include: Laurie Anderson, Donald Barthelme, Robert Coover, Don DeLillo, Shelley Jackson, Rick Moody, Howard Norman, Robert Pinsky, Richard Powers, Kurt Vonnegut, and Paul West.

As a reading-intensive course that is meeting on a compressed summer schedule, the pace will be brisk, and students will need to read a fair amount most every day to keep up with the class. Course requirements include two exams, two or three short papers, in-class presentations, and several trips to the Art Institute of Chicago. Students should begin to become familiar with the Art Institute’s 20th-century collection, particularly its abstract expressionist paintings and the surrealist assemblages of Joseph Cornell. Since this will require several trips to the Art Institute, you may wish to purchase a student membership to the museum.