English 134

Other Readings and Media

Coetzee, J.M.: Waiting for the Barbarians; Greene, G.: The End of the Affair; Ishiguro, K.: The Remains of the Day; Roy, A.: The God of Small Things; Smith, Z.: White Teeth; Stoppard, T.: Arcadia; a Course Reader including poems by Philip Larkin, Basil Bunting, Ted Hughes, Roy Fisher, Christopher Okigbo, Derek Walcott, Kamau Brathwaite, Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon, Medbh McGuckian, Paul Muldoon, Lorna Goodison, Carol Ann Duffy, David Dabydeen, Maggie O�Sullivan, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Geraldine Monk, and Caroline Bergvall

Description

We will sketch the far-flung field of contemporary British literature, closely reading some key texts written since the end of World War II. In addition to paying careful attention to varieties of poetic form and narrative style, we will think through the continuing utility of such a phrase as �British literature� in a globalizing world, especially as we focus on the aftermath of the British Empire and the colonial legacy of that empire in such places as India , Africa , the Caribbean , and Ireland . Course requirements include two essays and a final exam.