On September 12, 2008, renowned contemporary author and MacArthur genius award winner David Foster Wallace tragically committed suicide. Multiple encomiums published in the New York Times, Salon.com, and Harper’s Magazine called Wallace the heir to the literary tradition of such luminaries as James Joyce and Thomas Pynchon. In an interview in the L.A. Times, book critic David Ulin stated: “He was one of the most influential and innovative writers of the last 20 years.”
In this intensive summer course, our first and primary goal will be to read and discuss the entirety of Wallace’s master work, Infinite Jest. In addition, however, we’ll take stock of the critical responses to the novel, both professional and participatory. In the end, we’ll hopefully arrive at preliminary answers to three fundamental questions:
- Which kinds of interpretive approaches/habits does the novel encourage in its readers?
- What does this novel reveal about the landscape of contemporary literature?
- Given the current cachet of the novel and its author among a variety of audiences, what, if anything, can those trained in English Studies contribute to the conversation, and what skills would they need to do so?
