ENGH 591: Topics in Folklore Studies

ENGH 591-002: Living Words:Folklore and Creative Writing
(Spring 2012)

04:30 PM to 07:10 PM T

Section Information for Spring 2012

"Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them." -- Eudora Welty "What drives me on, I realize, is a craving to force entry into another heart, to trick the tumblers of natural law, to perform miracles of knowing. It's human nature. We are fascinated, all of us, by the implacable otherness of others." -- Tim O'Brien "In The Lake of the Woods" "The old man hunched over at the front door will be prepared to give you a tour, but first he'll ask Scarey or no scarey? You should say No scary. -- Zach Scholmberg, "Scary, No Scary" How do we know what moment is worth telling? How do we listen for and find good stories? What spoken words linger in a listener's ear? Where does the power lie in ambiguity and in fragments? Folklore and creative writing make good partners. Proverbs and jokes pare down words and turn on themselves quickly; they urge us to condense, to write concisely. Auction chants, drum beats, jump-rope rhymes, and unaccomapnied singing offer rythms, new and old. Folk speech anchors words in place. Charms and riddles lead us to danger and wisdom. Foods we eat, objects we make, rituals we practice enliven scenes of all kinds. And stories--whether mythological talkes, "fairy tales," legends, supernatural tales, tall tales, or stories of personal experiences--provide the inspiration, provocation, and backbone for many poems, novels, and non-fiction essays. In this class, we will encounter these forms of folklore through readings, recordings, and film and use them to further our writing. Through workshops and discussions, we will explore the unsuspected depths of everyday cultural forms and practices. We will attend to our writing in multiple ways: telling stories, interviewing, translating oral words we collect to printed text, and more. Course readings will pair poetry, fiction, ethnography, and creative non-fiction with folklore texts. Possible readings include Coyote and other mythological tales; tales of the Brothers Grimm; and legends of selkies, La Llorona, and other supernatural figures. Readings will be determined by student interest. Requirements include in-class presentations, a short paper, and a semester project (tailored to each student's program of study: MFA, MA Lit, PWR, TWL, MAIS Folklore, Anthropology, Cultural Studies). For my 2009 syllabus, see "Syllabi" at http://classweb,gmu.edu/myocom. Please e-mail me at myocom@gmu.edu when you register for the course. I will send you some questions that will help me plan our semester readings around your writing interests. To see samples of my poetry, creative non-fiction, and academic writing: http://mason.gmu.edu/~myocom

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Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Explores folklore and folklife topics such as folk narrative and story telling, folklore and literature, folksong, and folk arts. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. Offered by English. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 12 credits.
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Registration Restrictions:

Enrollment limited to students with a class of Advanced to Candidacy, Graduate, Junior Plus, Non-Degree or Senior Plus.

Enrollment is limited to Graduate, Non-Degree or Undergraduate level students.

Students in a Non-Degree Undergraduate degree may not enroll.

Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Graduate Regular scale.

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