The Novella: The Short Novel in the Age of Attention

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

The novella is more popular than ever. You might find a table of short reads in an urban bookstore, notice a short novel on the year’s literary prize list, or see a slim volume tucked neatly in a bag or back pocket. But what is the appeal of the short novel today, and how does that depend on the form’s history? In this course we will read a range of contemporary novellas as well as key older texts alongside essays about reading and attention in the twenty-first century. In the process, we will ask what pleasures short novels provide, and how they compare to what we are able to think with longer fictions. This course will include creative and critical assignments.