Outlaw Fictions

Level: Undergraduate

Division: The New School for Public Engagement

School: School of Writing

Department: Writing Program

Course Number: NWRW 3863

Course Format: Seminar

Location: NYC campus

Permission Required: No

Topics:

• Literature
• Creative Writing
• Fiction

Description:
In this course, we investigate the figure of “the outlaw” in several contemporary texts, including Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song; Michael Ondaatje’s The Collected Works of Billy the Kid; Angela Carter’s Saints and Strangers; Kathy Acker’s Pussy, King of the Pirates; Peter Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang; Dana Spiotta’s Eat the Document; the film, Badlands; and others. With a focus on close reading, we explore questions like: Is the outlaw a hero or a villain or an “everyman”? What are the laws and who makes them? Is the outlaw character based on an actual historical criminal, or imagined from a myth? How are the laws connected to gender? Are there laws in writing? Is the outlaw a stand-in for the writer? Students write two formal pieces (either one critical essay and one creative piece, or two critical essays), in addition to weekly informal assignments. This Riggio Writing & Democracy course is open to all undergraduates.

Restrictions:

Level

Open to Undergraduate students.