English 190

Other Readings and Media

C. Abani, Graceland; V. Chandra, Love and Longing in Bombay; H. Kunzru, Transmission; Zakes Mda, Ways of Dying; J. O’Neill, Netherland; Z. Smith, White Teeth; M. Thelwell, The Harder They Come (optional); I. Vladislavic, The Exploded View

Films: D. Boyle, dir., Slumdog Millionaire; P. Henzell, dir., The Harder They Come; S. Frears, dir., Dirty Pretty Things; G. Hood, Tstotsi; M. Nair, dir., Salaam Bombay; Course Reader available on b-Space

Description

In this seminar we will think about recent issues in postcolonial studies by focusing on cities. Moving through a diverse set of texts and very different cities—London and Lagos, Kingston and Mumbai, New York and Cape Town among them—we will wonder: What makes a city postcolonial? (For that matter, what makes a text postcolonial?) Are there postcolonial ways to experience a city? What narrative techniques emerge out of the urban postcolonial? In what sense is the United States postcolonial? The texts, the cities, and readings in recent criticism will help us think about the fate of “the postcolonial” itself, a term we might liken to an elusive discursive urbanite. We shall follow her down streets of globalization, arcades of diaspora, borderlands of one sort and another—including those in two cities close at hand, Oakland and San Francisco.

English 190 replaces English 100 and 150 as of Fall ’09. English majors may fulfill the seminar requirement for the major by taking one section of English 190 (or by having taken either English 100 or 150 before Fall ’09). Please read the paragraph on page 2 of this Announcement of Classes for more details about enrolling in or wait-listing for this course!