Professor: Marcel Brousseau
4 credits
In this class we will examine the legal, literary, and cultural concept of documentation. In particular, we will critically analyze how legal paperwork determines identity and subjectivity, and how artists creatively confront the power of legal documentation. As we research the history of documents, archives, and the practices associated with documentation, we will also explore multiple forms of literature and media that address documentation as a cultural practice. Readings framing the theory and history of documentation will alternate with literature, films, and video games. The creative texts we will read explore documents as varied as birth certificates, driver’s licenses, passports, visas, social security cards, customs forms, and citizenship applications by appropriating, incorporating, and deforming them. Through interdisciplinary research, students will work toward a stronger understanding of how identity is shaped in the struggle between legal and creative writing, and how categories such as race, gender, age, and nationality are constructed. By practicing analytical and creative writing, and engaging in rigorous discussion, students will also develop skills in methods of liberal arts scholarship.