Course Times: MWF 1:30-2:20 PM, in 109 EPB

Office Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 2:30-3:20 PM and by app't, in EPB 455

Phone/ E-mail: 335-0465 (office); 337-3364 (home); rob-latham@uiowa.edu

Required Texts (all at Prairie Lights Bookstore):

Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (1966)

Donald Barthelme, Snow White (1969)

Joan Didion, Play It As It Lays (1970)

Michael Ondaatje, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid (1970)

Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo (1972)

Walter Abish, Alphabetical Africa (1974)

Angela Carter, The Infernal Desire Machines of Dr. Hoffman (1972)

J.G. Ballard, Crash (1973)

Kathy Acker, Blood and Guts in High School (1978)

Don DeLillo, The Names (1982)

Stephen Wright, Going Native (1992)

Description: This course is designed to introduce students to the theory and practice of postmodern fiction, covering representative texts from the mid-1960s to the present. The class examines a range of narrative forms and experimental techniques that have character-ized postmodern writing. Specific themes we will track include: the contrast between minimal-ist and maximalist styles of writing; the playful and/or conspiratorial revision of historical narratives; the interrogation and incorporation of mass media forms and images; the collapse of distinctions between elite and popular cultures; and the transformation of personal and social identity through technological systems.

Requirements and Assignments: The first requirement is preparation and attendance; you must be here for every class meeting with the day's reading completed. Since the weekly quizzes and the take-home exams will test information presented in lectures as well as in the texts on the syllabus, missing classes will negatively impact your grades on these assignments.

The required writing is as follows: numerous in-class quizzes and three take-home mid-term exams. The quizzes, of which there will be roughly fifteen over the course of the semester, are designed to test your reading; the format will be 3-4 short-answer, fact-based questions. Quizzes missed due to absences cannot be made up and will thus count as zeroes against your final quiz grade. (I will, however, in calculating your final grade, drop your three lowest quiz scores.) The three take-home exams will be essay-format responses to a handful of questions distributed in class one week before each exam is due; for each exam, you must choose one of these questions, and write a 5-6 page response. The completed essays are to be handed in on the Friday class meetings of the exam weeks; late exams will be marked down by 1/2 grade for every day they are late. The text of the exams must be double-spaced on 8 1/2 x 11-inch unruled paper, with one-inch margins all around and no font size larger than 12-point type. The papers must be proofread for typos, misspellings, and minor grammatical errors; 1/2 grade will be deducted for those that are not.

Grading: The breakdown in grading is as follows: Quizzes = 10%; Mid-term exams = 30% each. All grades will be numerical; the final grade will average and convert these to letter form, on the following scale: 97-99 = A+; 93-96 = A; 90-92 = A-; 87-89 = B+; 83-86 = B; 80-82 = B-; 77-79 = C+; 73-76 = C; 70-72 = C-; 67-69 = D+; 63-66 = D; 60-62 = D-; below 60 = F.

Schedule of Readings:

Week 1.

Mon. 8/21: Introduction

Wed. 8/23: Barth, "Lost in the Funhouse"

Fri. 8/25: Barth, cont'd

Week 2.

Mon. 8/28: Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49

Wed. 8/30: Pynchon, cont'd

Fri. 9/1: Pynchon, cont'd

Week 3.

Mon. 9/4: University Holiday

Wed. 9/6: Pynchon, cont'd

Fri. 9/8: Barthelme, Snow White

Week 4.

Mon. 9/11: Barthelme, cont'd

Wed. 9/13: Barthelme, cont'd

Fri. 9/15: Barthelme, cont'd

Week 5.

Mon. 9/18: Didion, Play It As It Lays

Wed. 9/20: Didion, cont'd

Fri. 9/22: Didion, cont'd

Week 6.

Mon. 9/25: Ondaatje, Collected Works

Wed. 9/27: Ondaatje, cont'd

Fri. 9/29: Ondaatje, cont'd

First Take-home Exam Due

Week 7.

Mon. 10/2: Reed, Mumbo Jumbo

Wed. 10/4: Reed, cont'd

Fri. 10/6: Reed, cont'd

Week 8.

Mon. 10/9: Reed, cont'd

Wed. 10/11: Abish, Alphabetical Africa

Fri. 10/13: Abish, cont'd

Week 9.

Mon. 10/16: Abish, cont'd

Wed. 10/18: Abish, cont'd

Fri. 10/20: Carter, Infernal Desire Machines

Week 10.

Mon. 10/23: Carter, cont'd

Wed. 10/25: Carter, cont'd

Fri. 10/27: Carter, cont'd

Week 11.

Mon. 10/30: Ballard, Crash

Wed. 11/1: Ballard, cont'd

Fri. 11/3: Ballard, cont'd

Week 12.

Mon. 11/6: Ballard, cont'd

Wed. 11/8: Acker, Blood and Guts

Fri. 11/10: Acker, cont'd

Second Take-home Exam Due

Week 13.

Mon. 11/13: Acker, cont'd

Wed. 11/15: Acker, cont'd

Fri. 11/17: Don DeLillo, The Names

Week 14.

Mon. 11/20: DeLillo, cont'd

Wed. 11/22: Thanksgiving Break

Fri. 11/24: Thanksgiving Break

Week 15.

Mon. 11/27: DeLillo, cont'd

Wed. 11/29: DeLillo, cont'd

Fri. 12/1: Stephen Wright, Going Native

Week 16.

Mon. 12/4: Wright, cont'd

Wed. 12/6: Wright, cont'd

Fri. 12/8: Wright, cont'd

Exam Week.

Third Take-home Exam Due