Sports And Literature

LIT4607 Sports and Literature
2 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits
Blended Learning FormatThe Ancient Greek lyric poet Pindar wrote victory odes for winners in the Olympian Games, whose "prizes [were] won in trials of strength." In doing so he forged a powerful connection between writing and sporting achievement. Long after Pindar, many writers have been drawn to sport, and many sports have rich and extensive literatures surrounding them. This course examines the varied representations that fiction writers, poets, memoirists, and essayists have made of individual and team sports and their players. This course also pursues theoretical examinations of sport and its place in culture, including Theodor Adorno's assertion that "sport is the imageless counterpart to practical life". We work within such areas as race, class, gender, politics, and aesthetics. Delivered online, this class includes multimodal assignment delivery, blending students' written texts with audio-visual methods of communicating meaning. We also host visiting writers from the field of sports and literature.

Prerequisites: Any combination of 2 ILA (HSS, LTA, CSP, LVA, CVA)