Creative Cultural Journalism
“Cultural Journalism” refers broadly to explorations in various media of cultural issues, phenomena, texts, figures and contexts for a non-specialized audience. Despite the “journalism” in the title, in this class Creative Cultural Journalism is treated as a subgenre of Creative Writing rather than journalism (hence the “creative” in the title). For some time now, there has been growing recognition for the craft involved in the kind of writing about culture that aspires to many of the best qualities that we associate with Creative Writing: memorable language; startling and fresh insights into topics of broad interest; composition that repays rereading; concern with issues beyond the immediate moment. Some of the great writers of cultural journalism in the way I mean it here are icons of Creative Writing: for example, James Baldwin and Susan Sontag. On the flip side, there are writers not commonly included within a Creative Writing canon who are acknowledged virtuosos of craft and language: for example, Edward Said and Roland Barthes. Drawing on a diversity of writers such as these, this course leans deliberately into what makes Cultural Journalism creative writing while at the same time troubling easy distinctions between journalism and Creative Writing.
Cultural Journalism can be in any medium; but this course focuses on writing in print and online. In writing, cultural journalism ranges from short forms like the traditional review and the more recent blog through longer forms like substantial article-length profiles, review articles, travel essays and reporting on cultural trends to book-length studies. What unites these forms is a focus on culture broadly construed and a mode of writing that is aimed at a general audience. The cultural meanings of “pandemic” after COVID-19; the rise in popularity of “affect theory” within the academy; a cultural introduction to Singapore as a travel destination; the origins of tourist memorabilia sold in Waikiki; trends in contemporary American fiction; a personal profile of a cultural icon; the meanings of race in post-Trump America: when presented with the qualities mentioned above, these can all be topics for a contemporary cultural journalism that intersects with Creative Writing.
The goal of the course is to prepare students to engage with the wide domain of writing that is cultural journalism through both short and long forms. At the end of the course, students will have read texts contextualizing contemporary journalism as well as examples of Creative Cultural Journalism ranging from the short review to book-length studies. Rather than reading, the focus of the course, however, is decidedly on writing. Students will do several assignments ranging from the length of the typical opinion piece (600-800 words) to articles thousands of words long. Taken together the assignments will require research either in an archive or in the field or both. For their assignments, students will be asked to write in different genres—for example, a profile of a musician based on interviews as well as a review article on several books introducing and exploring a concept. There will be considerable emphasis on drafting and revision. The writings will be workshopped—in a way appropriate to the size of the class—and eventually published either in outside venues or on a website that the students in the class will collectively conceptualize and create. The creation of the website is a required assignment.
There may be occasional guest speakers, both local and visiting.
As indicated, this course is an introduction to Creative Cultural Journalism in written form. However, students who demonstrate appropriate prior expertise may be allowed to substitute audio or video forms for some of the assignments.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will—
Develop an understanding of the discipline of English and its relationship to other disciplines
Develop an understanding of advanced research methods and creative techniques in relation to Cultural Journalism and Nonfiction Creative Writing
Develop an understanding of popular forms of Cultural Criticism
Develop the ability to demonstrate advanced critical analysis of the history and craft of Nonfiction Creative Writing
Develop the ability to map, historicize, and contextualize the history and craft of Cultural Journalism
Develop advanced creative writing skills for publication
Utilize one or more theoretical models deployed in the study or production of literature, culture, or rhetoric/composition.
Assignments
- Formal Individual Assignments (these will go through a rigorous drafting and workshop process):
Three short pieces (600-800 words)(opinion piece; book-, movie-, music-, or video game- review; blog; event report or preview; etc.) 30% of the grade
Two long pieces (2500 words each)(profile; interview; feature article; travel essay; review article; etc.) 50% of the grade
- Collective Assignment: The class as a whole will create a website on which all or a selection of the pieces will be published. 10% of the grade
- Regular informal responses to readings. These are required but will not be graded. Along with class participation: 10% of the grade
Required Texts (tentative):
*The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin
*On Photography, Susan Sontag
*White Magic, Elissa Washuta
PDFs on Laulima: excerpts from Cultural Journalism and Cultural Critique in the Media, ed. Nete Kristensen and Unni From; short cultural journalistic pieces by Naomi Klein, Edward Said, Pauline Kael, Roland Barthes, Ta-Nehisi Coates and other writers from print sources such as books, The New Yorker, The Nation and Honolulu Magazine as well as online sources such as Salon and Jacobin.