Some writers maintain that the creative experience is rooted entirely in the mind or spirit. However, there are those for whom the human body, sometimes their own, plays a central role, both in the process of creation and as a subject of artistic inquiry. Whether through poetry, novels, sketches, or short stories, these authors tell a very different tale of literary process, and it is focused on the primacy of personal, physical experience. By way of Rabelais, Sorel, Gogol, Maupassant, Kafka, Tanizaki, Dinesen, Babel, Mandelstam, and Borges, this course will examine how different writers present and use the body as the consummate vehicle of expression. We will also consider other areas of study that are intimately related to the physical experience, such as asceticism, illness, prostitution, and disability. All readings in English. Format: lecture/discussion. Requirements: active class participation, oral presentations, two short papers, and a final research project. No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 19). (Cultural Studies)