Crossing the borders: literary journalism as a transnational and transgeneric discourse

The students will study both national and global, social, political, and cultural (and within that, literary and journalistic) phenomena and concepts and draw comparisons between them. Thus, they will combine the knowledge of various disciplines and will be prepared to work in various fields. Primarily, they can target jobs in research institutions and centers, as well as at universities and colleges, in the realm of media outlets, international relations, as well as in the field of cultural, sociological, and anthropological endeavors. Work at non-profit organizations also comes into play, especially those that deal with global socio-cultural and socio-political questions.

In order to be able to take the final exam at this course, it is essential to attend the lectures (80% attendance) and actively contribute to the lectures – taking part in debates, covering all the selected readings, writing of two seminar papers on selected topics in literary journalism and presenting the essays (10–15 min presentations). At the end of the lectures and seminar work, the students will also submit an individual research project which will be an article written in the form of literary journalism [each student will pick a topic to write about in the beginning of our course; the essay will consist of about 4000 words and will conform to the basic principles of literary journalism.] For the course to proceed normally, there needs to be a sufficient supply of prescribed literature in the library and/or in the electronic form available to the students.

Prior knowledge requirements for the course: our course calls for knowledge in the area of humanities and social studies, with the emphasis placed on literary and journalistic practices and in connection with sociological, historical themes and topics concerning cultural studies. The students are expected to follow the current and topical literary and journalistic production in Slovenia and abroad. Lastly, they need to have an advanced knowledge of English, as certain theoretical works and articles will be read in English. It is advisable to have a reading knowledge of at least one more language – French/Italian/German.

We will look at the literary-journalistic phenomenon called literary journalism. We will first analyze the historical development of this discourse. Further on, we will discuss the key characteristics of literary journalism (LJ). LJ has the most notable tradition in the US (especially in the 1960s, this type of writing became increasingly popular; namely, in the circle of writers who gathered around Tom Wolfe, who, apart from Truman Capote, is know as the “father” of new/ literary journalism), however, we will move beyond the US borders. We will be particularly interested in LJ in Europe, including in Slovenia, where this type of writing is still more or less in its initial phase. We will attempt to define the similarities and differences between various (national) types of literary journalism and see if there has been any significant interplay. Moreover, we will extract the key stylistic characteristics of this type of writing, we will pose questions about the line between fiction and truth, between the private and the public, and the subjective and the objective in the selected texts. We will also address the ethical issues that literary journalism raises. Even though LJ, which can be described as a trans-generic discourse, developed most significantly in the Anglo-American geographical domain, we will also discuss the works of non-America authors such as Danilo Kiš, Ryszard Kapuściński, Jamaica Kincaid, Slavenka Drakulić; among Slovenian journalists, we will expose the works of Ervin H. Milharčič, Željko Kozinc, and Alenka Puhar.
The course connects with the following two courses: Literatures in transnational connection and Translation as a means of transcultural communication.

The course will familiarize the students with the literary-journalistic phenomenon of literary journalism. We will get to know the main characteristics of this type of narrative, explain the socio-political and historical context that shaped and influenced this discourse, and, finally, study concrete examples of literary journalism from all over the globe. When studying individual cases, we will be interested in the relation between the writer, the editor, and the publication outlet that published the piece in question. The students will develop critical thinking and an analytical approach to understanding texts, while, at the same time, they will also improve their writing skills. The goal is also to introduce the students to a proper theoretical vocabulary with which they can describe and analyze the texts and the related social phenomena. Our principal intention (for lectures and seminars) is getting to know the major works of literary journalism as a phenomenon that surpasses genre and national borders. Literary journalism will be taught as a transnational discourse that also has national specifics. The course is more or less a novelty in the Slovenian academic space and offers the students an insight into an area of studies that is topical and has had a significant tradition on a global academic scale already.

• Joan Didion. Slouching Towards Bethlehem. New York: Washington Square Press: Pocket Books, 1968. E-version
• Slavenka Drakulić. Kako smo preživeli komunizem in se celo smejali. Maribor: Rotis, 1992. Catalogue
• Ervin Hladnik Milharčič. Pot na Orient. Ljubljana: Študentska založba, 2009.
• Ryszard Kapuściński. Cesar. Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 1999.
• Željko Kozinc. Dotik sveta: Zgodba arhitekta Janeza Hacina. Ljubljana: Založba Modrijan, 2006. Catalogue
• Norman Mailer. The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel/ The Novel as History. New York: New American Library, 1968. Catalogue E-version
• George Orwell. Na robu in na dnu v Parizu in Londonu. Ljubljana: Beletrina, 2010.
• Sacco, Joe. Varovano območje Goražde: Vojna v vzhodni Bosni 1992-95. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, SAZU, 2006. Catalogue
• Hunter S. Thompson, Strah in groza v Las Vegasu: zblojeno potovanje v srce ameriškega sna. Ljubljana, DZS, 1999.
• David Foster Wallace. “Consider the Lobster”, Gourmet, 2004 (članek-esej) Katalog E-version
• Tom Wolfe. “The Birth of the New Journalism: An Eyewitness Report”, New York Magazine, 1972. (članek-esej) E-version

STROKOVNA LITERATURA: Izbor

• Boynton, Robert S. The New New Journalism. Conversations with America’s Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft. New York: Vintage Books, Random House, Inc., 2005. Catalogue E-version
• Flis, Leonora. Factual Fictions: Narrative Truth and the Contemporary American Documentary Novel. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2010. Catalogue
• Foley, Barbara. Telling the Truth: The Theory and Practice of Documentary Fiction. New York: Cornell University Press, 1986. Catalogue E-version
• Hartsock, John C. A History of American Literary Journalism. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2000.
• Literary Journalism Across the Globe: Journalistic Traditions and Transnational Influences. Eds. John S. Bak and Bill Reynolds. University of Massachusetts Press, 2011. Catalogue
• Merljak Zdovc, Sonja. Literarno novinarstvo: Pojav in raba nove novinarske vrste v ZDA in Sloveniji. Ljubljana: Modrijan, 2008. Catalogue
• Sims, Norman. True Stories: A Century of Literary Journalism. Northwestern University Press, 2008. Katalog E-version
• Weingarten, Marc. The Gang That Wouldn’t Write Straight: Wolfe, Thompson, Didion, and the New Journalism Revolution. New York: Crown Publishers, 2006. E-version

• 80% attendance at lectures and the seminar and active participation in discussions = 20% - completing all the obligations for lectures and the seminar (reading and writing) = 10% a) seminar work (2x) and presentation, taking part in discussions and written reports on selected texts, and b) final research project = 20% -final exam at the end of the semester

(Adjunct) Associate Professor dr. Leonora Flis. Leonora Flis focuses on literary theory, contemporary British and American Literature, film (especially in relation to literature), graphic novels and literary journalism. She also writes book and film reviews, translates scholarly texts and literary works, and writes short stories. She published a collection of short stories Upogib časa (2015) and in 2022 her new collection Enakozvočja is to be published. She was the recipient of the Fulbright fellowship and was a visiting Fulbright scholar at Columbia University in New York. She is the author of a monograph Factual Fictions: Narrative Truth and the Contemporary American Documentary Novel (2010). Her scientific articles have been published in Slovene and foreign journals.

The selection of published texts:

FLIS, Leonora. Nan Shepherdʹs holistic world - an intimate triangle : nature, body and mind in the living mountain. V: DUŢU, Carmen (ur.). Representations, scenes and scenarios of intimacy in women’s writing. Bucureşti: Pro Universitaria, 2023. Str. 81-95. ISBN 978-606-26-1415-7. https://repozitorij.ung.si/IzpisGradiva.php?id=8312. [COBISS.SI-ID 159100419]

FLIS, Leonora. The narrative of social (in)justice, feminism, and migration in Slavenka Drakulić's selected works. Dve domovini : razprave o izseljenstvu. [Tiskana izd.]. 2023, [št.] 58, str. 127-144. ISSN 0353-6777. https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/twohomelands/article/view/13203/11576, http://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:doc-VFRV4BE6, DOI: 10.3986/2023.2.07. [COBISS.SI-ID 160461571], [SNIP, Scopus]

FLIS, Leonora. Factual fictions: narrative truth and the contemporary American documentary novel. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2010. XII, 254 str. ISBN 9781-4438-24130-2. ISBN 1-4438-2413-5. [COBISS.SI-ID 44359522].

FLIS, Leonora. Med leposlovjem in poročanjem. Sodobnost. okt. 2021, letn. 85, št. 10, str. 1279-1292. ISSN 0038-0482. [COBISS.SI-ID 84567555]

FLIS, Leonora. Social engagement and multiculturalism in Louis Adamic's literary journalism and documentary prose. Dve domovini : razprave o izseljenstvu. [Tiskana izd.]. 2020, št. 51, str. 59-75. ISSN 0353-6777. DOI: 10.3986/dd.2020.1.04. [COBISS.SI-ID 45984557].

FLIS, Leonora. Grafične pripovedi in pripovednost. Primerjalna književnost. [Tiskana izd.]. maj 2020, letn. 43, št. 1, str. 51-74, ilustr. ISSN 0351-1189. DOI: 10.3986/pkn.v43.i1.03. [COBISS.SI-ID 18156803].

FLIS, Leonora. Družbeni angažma v literarnem novinarstvu Louisa Adamiča. V: DAUGUL, Larisa (ur.). Strpnost ni dovolj: prispevki s konference Iz mnogih dežel: ob 120. obletnici rojstva Louisa Adamiča, (Borec, ISSN 0006-7725, letn. 70 (2018), št. 751-753). Ljubljana: Sophia. 2018, [Letn.] 70, št. 751/753, str. [140]-149, 217-218. [COBISS.SI-ID 36010333].

FLIS, Leonora. Joe Sacco in literarno novinarstvo v podobi stripa - žanrski preplet literature, stripa, novinarstva in zgodovine. V: ZORMAN, Barbara (ur.), et al. Literatura in gibljive slike : tematski sklop = Literature and moving images : thematic section. Ljubljana: Slovensko društvo za primerjalno književnost, 2014. Letn. 37, št. 2, str. 195-225, [245], ilustr. Primerjalna književnost, letn. 37, št. 2. ISSN 0351-1189. [COBISS.SI-ID 55123042].

FLIS, Leonora. Profiling war : managing trauma in reporting horror : the case of Boštjan Videmšek. V: JOSEPH, Sue (ur.). Profile pieces : journalism and the "human interest" bias. New York; London: Routledge, cop. 2016. Str. 226-239. Routledge research in journalism, 13. ISBN 978-1-138-93805-2. [COBISS.SI-ID 4114171]