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Throughout the 20th century, writers have probed the nature of text as medium through a host of experimental techniques that press literature as an artform to its limits. This course examines the history of this experimentation, from modernist fragmentation of narrative; to Dada typographical and sound poetry; to visual and concrete poetry; to postmodernist metafiction; to hypertext fiction and beyond. By situating various modes of experimentation (formal, stylistic, visual, material, sonic) in relation to media-technological developments and discourses, students will gain an understanding of several literary periods and overview of modern and contemporary media history. The course will make extensive use of Library Special Collections. Conducted in English.