English 607 Topic 50 - From Bibliophiles to Dust: The Practice of Collecting
Fall 2009
Instructor: Dr. Stefania Forlini
sforlini [at] ucalgary [dot] ca
Monday 9:00 am - 11:30 am
Course Description:
The figure of the collector amongst his or her accumulated things invites speculation about the drive to collect, the peculiar relationships between people and things, and the ways in which things come to circulate in (and out) of systems of signification and exchange. It is perhaps not surprising that the figure of the collector emerges as an identifiable character in fiction from the mid- to late-nineteenth century as what Elaine Freedgood calls "thing culture" gives way to commodity culture, but how can we understand the collector and the practice of collecting? This course will examine the figure of the collector and the practice of collecting both in fiction and in fact, focusing primarily (though not exclusively) on this key moment in the transition from thing to commodity culture. We will also examine a number of key theoretical approaches to material culture as we explore possible understandings of the relationships between language, people, and things.
By the end of this course, students will bring their new knowledge of collectors and collecting to bear on one of the University of Calgary's most impressive collections-Bob Gibson's Collection of Speculative Fiction, which contains material from the late eighteenth to the late twentieth century. This collection, one of the largest of its kind in North America, includes over 40, 000 books, periodicals, and personal "anthologies" compiled and illustrated by a life-long bibliophile. Students' final projects will involve finding a way to engage meaningfully with this Albertan collector and/or his collection and display their findings as part of a course website.
Tentative reading list:
Thomas Frognall Dibdin's Bibliomania; or Book Madness; A Bibliographical Romance (1809, revised 1842) (selections)
Sir Walter Scott The Antiquary (1816)
Honoree de Balzac Cousin Pons (1847)
Charles Dickens Bleak House (1853)
Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)
Henry James The Spoils of Poynton (1897)
Richard Marsh's Curios: Some Strange Adventures of Two Bachelors (1898)
Arthur Machen The Three Impostors (1895)
H.G. Wells The Time Machine (1895)
Mark Z. Danielewski House of Leaves (2000)
Selection of short stories by Vernon Lee (Violet Paget), Arthur Machen, Arthur Conan Doyle, Arnold Bennett, G.K. Chesterton
Course pack of secondary readings, including works by Elaine Freedgood, Carolyn Steedman, Bruno Latour, Bill Brown, Susan Stewart, Jacques Derrida, Walter Benjamin, and others.
