Over recent decades, literary scholarship has shifted focus from a generalized or transcendental concept of writing to an analysis of its historically specific techniques. This has allowed for a clearer view of differences among communicative structures and settings. Through a coupling of case studies and theoretical models, this course aims to work through the implications of highly influential distinctions (orality v. literacy), practices (scribbling, collecting), institutions (bureaucracy, literature), as well as formats (fragment, biography). Co-taught with Professor Joel Lande.