A study of literary culture as inflected by the material conditions of production, distribution, and consumption of the early book. Taking seriously Francis Bacon's claim that printing was one of the three material constituents of early Modernity, we will devote attention to the relation of manuscript and print, the social effects of the printing of the Bible and devotional literature, and the influence of print on literary form and on the nature of authorship. We will consider the effects of monopolistic practices within the book trade, and probe a set of complementary relations: between print and cultural nationalism, text and image, printed script and live performance, and coterie and mass consumption. Most of the texts and authors under examination will be central to the traditional English and continental literary canon, but we'll pepper them with nontraditional questions. This course satisfies the Early Modern historical requirement. This course counts towards the Publishing Concentration.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; EL EM; FA HUM; AR HUM
