Documentary Forms in American Poetry and Film 4219-SD0049
Muriel Rukeyser differentiated between two kinds of poetry: “the poetry of unverifiable fact--that which emerges from dreams, sexuality, subjectivity--and the poetry of documentary fact--literally, accounts of strikes, wars, geographical and geological details, actions of actual persons in history, scientific invention.” Although the boundary between the two is often blurred, this course focuses specifically on documentary poetry in historical perspective – from Rukeyser’s The Book of the Dead, through Charles Reznikoff’s “Testimony,” to the revival of documentary forms in the 21st century, as manifested in C.D. Wright’s One Big Self or M. NourbeSe Philip’s Zong! We will think across media, exploring “docu-poetics” alongside American documentary films, including Spike Lee’s When the Levees Broke (2006) about the devastation of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Some of the questions addressed throughout the semester will include: What does it mean for a poet and filmmaker to “bear witness” to historical events and act as their investigator? How did documentary film and poetry influence each other over time? What techniques do they share? What ethical dilemmas might one face while documenting reality? What does it mean that “poetry is a felt fact,” as Susan Howe put it? What are the reasons behind a renewed interest in documentary forms in the US today?
Type of course
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students should:
- be familiar with selected examples of documentary forms in North American poetry and film
- be able to compare and contrast documentary techniques employed in poetry and film
- understand and be able to explain how the poetic/visual form impacts the meaning
- display an increased fluency in close reading
- display an increased ability to critically engage with documentary forms in poetry and film, and substantiate their opinions with textual/visual evidence
Assessment criteria
All students must participate actively in the course, completing the assigned readings/ watching the movies before they are scheduled to be discussed in class. Active class participation – which includes thorough preparation for every meeting, involvement in class discussions, seeking guidance from the instructor when necessary – is as significant for each student’s final grade as their written assignments. This means that students are expected to work for their final grade consistently throughout the semester.
The total percentage of each student’s final grade will be determined according to the following scale:
30% class participation
30% final essay
20% response papers
20% midterm test
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: