Pedagogy Jan 2009

Writ101

Shady Cosgrove University of Wollongong

Abstract

While disciplines such as law, journalism and medicine have ethics classes embedded into their degree structures, fiction writing has escaped this administrative scrutiny. This paper argues that an `ethics of representation' should be raised within the prose fiction classroom if creative writing teachers are serious about training future writers. Drawing on work by Michael Riffaterre and Seymour Chatman, this paper argues that due to the historic privileging of realism and ensuing reader assumptions, writing students need to understand the importance of research and representation. After a brief discussion of how creative writing is situated within the tertiary administrative context, this paper then cites a critical teaching pedagogy (as articulated by Rochelle Harris) and practical strategies that teachers can use to bring discussions of representation into the prose fiction classroom. Inspired by the work of creative writing academics such as George Kalamaras and Sandra Young, these strategies include using the workshop session, classroom readings and formal assignments to foreground matters of representation.

Journal
Pedagogy
Published
2009-01-01
DOI
10.1215/15314200-2008-021
Open Access
Closed
Topics
multilingual writers creative writing

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Brockman (2010)
    Taking Stock
    Pedagogy

Cites in this index (5)

  1. Bean (2007)
    Empowering Writing in the Disciplines by Making It Invisible
    Pedagogy
  2. Harris (2004)
    Encouraging Emergent Moments: The Personal, Critical, and Rhetorical in the Wri…
    Pedagogy
  3. Lim (2003)
    The Strangeness of Creative Writing: An Institutional Query
    Pedagogy
  4. Young (2003)
    Writing the Lives of Others: The Veterans Project
    Pedagogy
  5. Kalamaras (1999)
    Interrogating the Boundaries of Discourse in a Creative Writing Class: Politici…
    College Composition and Communication
Also cites 7 works outside this index ↓
  1. Charon, Rita. 2005. “Narrative Medicine: Attention, Representation, Affiliation.” Narrative13: 261 - 70.
     ↗
  2. Eakin, Paul John. 2001. “Breaking Rules: The Consequences of Self-Narration.” Biography24: 113 - 27.
     ↗
  3. Eberwein, Jane Donahue. 1981. “Was There Life before the English Major?” College English43: 604 - 8.
     ↗
  4. Keen, Suzanne. 2006. “A Theory of Narrative Empathy.” Narrative14: 207 - 36.
     ↗
  5. Riffaterre, Michael. 1990. Fictional Truth. London: Johns Hopkins University Press.
     ↗
  6. Schaff, Pamela. 2001. Review of How Our Lives Become Stories: Making Selves, by Paul John Eakin. Literature a…
     ↗
  7. Spear, Karen. 1997. “Controversy and Consensus in Freshman Writing: An Overview of the Field.” Review of High…
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 8 View in citation network →

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