ENGL 049 PZ -Can I Get a Witness?

Institution: Pitzer College

Description:

Can I Get a Witness? Regarding the Pain of Others. I’ve often struggled with the limitation of what’s deemed a literature of witness. How are we implicated in the aftermath of crimes we did not ourselves witness? How can we best carry their stories forward, without appropriating them, without unduly calling attention to ourselves, and without in turn, having their stories displaced by ours? This class will explore innovative interventions on ways of looking through literary theory and creative nonfiction by Carmen Maria Machado, Cathy Park Hong, Fernanda Melchor and others. Students will develop their own witnessing practice producing one original work of nonfiction that engages theories of witnessing and exemplifies social responsibility with a community partner organization. This final project will be an innovative work that experiments with structure, form, and nonstandard narrative perspectives.