New media studies and (the predominantly German-initiated) media theory have come along to recast the terms of conversations in the humanities, urging us to rethink the interrelations between technical media (or technicity in general) and the human condition. While these emerging fields are posing important questions in their own right, they are also noteworthy in the ways in which they inspire new methodologies in literary studies. This course aims to examine how these theoretical propositions help us reconsider the ways in which literature embodies or responds to epistemic frameworks and changes in the physical world. Literary works are not to be taken merely as thematic clusters or representations of political ideologies and identitarian alignments; they are to be understood as complex intersections of the textual world and the outside world, as material manifestation of processes of mediation. Contemporary media theory is illuminating particularly in helping us broach “medium” broadly, allowing us to approach critically and innovatively not only media technologies but also all sorts of “medial objects.” In brief, this course is interested in the technically mediated experience manifest in literature.

**The class is to be conducted in English. A different arrangement may be possible depending on the makeup of the students.
**Sitting in on the class may be allowed on condition of regular attendance. Email the instructor beforehand to inquire.