English 45C

Other Readings and Media

Achebe, C.: Things Fall Apart; Conrad, J.: Heart of Darkness; Morrison, T.: Beloved; Silko, L.: Ceremony; Spiegelman, A.: Maus (2 volumes); Shammas, A.: Arabesques; and Woolf, V.: Mrs. Dalloway.

Description

This survey course of literature in English from the mid-nineteenth century to the present will consider a variety of literary forms and movements in their historical and cultural contexts. We’ll examine the literature of colonization and imperialism and the counter literature that it inspires. We’ll study literary experimentation and recurrent transcultural themes: the relationship between past and present, surviving historical trauma, translating orality into print, and the influence of notions of race, ethnicity, class, nationality, and gender on subject formation. We’ll read Irish and English texts, Native American and European American texts, African American and African English texts, yet challenge the simplistic binary dualisms these categories suggest. We’ll also practice lots of close reading. There will be two 5-to-7-page essays, a midterm, and a final examination.

NOTE: This class will meet for the first time on Monday, August 30; discussion sections will not be held on Friday the 27th.