20th & 21st Century Global Literatures in English
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Bookmark the course blog for news from me and links to your classmates' blogs.
In a general sense, "globalization" refers to the ways in which individuals and their cultures merge into a single, "global," society and attempt to function together. Although "globalization" sounds like a new term (and it is), the concept has been around for thousands of years: the development of the Silk Road in China is an example of early globalization, as is the rise of New World empires and corporations in the 16th and 17th centuries—the British East India Company, the Dutch East India Company, and the Portuguese East India Company. The 19th century saw enormous growth by these European powers, and American industry also burst onto the scene.
Technological advances in travel and communication during the 20th century have effectively caused the world to seem smaller and unique cultures more accessible and more easily influenced by outsiders. Many works of literature produced during this time are thus concerned with the effects of globalization and how aspects of globalization affect one's home culture. We will read several works of literature that reflect the experiences of (among others) African, Caribbean, Asian, and Irish authors—members of cultures typically affected by "colonizers" such as the British Empire. These works of literature will help us discern both the difficulties and potential benefits of "globalization."
REQUIRED TEXTS
When available, I have requested the Norton Critical Editions of texts. These editions contain additional material besides the primary text, some of which will be assigned in this course, and all of which serves as a tremendous resource when working on things like research papers.
- Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (Norton, 4th ed., ISBN: 0-393-92636-2)
- Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (Norton, ISBN: 978-0-393-93219-5)
- Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (Norton, ISBN: 978-0-393-96012-9)
- V. S. Naipaul, The Mimic Men (Vintage, ISBN: 978-0-375-70717-9)
- Ha Jin, The Bridegroom: Stories (Vintage, ISBN: 978-0-375-72493-0)
- Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies (Mariner, ISBN: 978-0-395-92720-5)
- James Joyce, Dubliners (Norton, ISBN: 978-0-393-97851-3)
- Bernard MacLaverty, Cal (Norton, ISBN: 978-0-393-31332-1)
- Neal Stephenson, The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (Spectra, ISBN: 978-0-553-38096-5)
SYLLABUS & PROJECT ASSIGNMENT SHEETS
- Course Syllabus (PDF)
- Blogging
- Short Essay #1 due 9/25/09 (PDF)
- Short Essay #2 due 11/30/09 (PDF)
Links to the supplemental texts referenced in the assignment sheet appear below:- selections from They Say/I Say: "As He Himself Puts It" (the art of quoting) and "So What? Who Cares?" (saying why it matters) (PDF)
- Liangyan Ge, "The Tiger-Killing Hero and the Hero-Killing Tiger" (PDF)
- Judith Caesar, "American Spaces in the Fiction of Jhumpa Lahiri" (PDF)
- Noelle Brada-Williams, "Reading Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies as a Short Story Cycle" (PDF)
- Jim Haughey, "Joyce and Trevor's Dubliners: The Legacy of Colonialism" (PDF)
- Take-Home Mid-Term due 10/26/09 (PDF)
- Final Project due 12/16/09 (PDF)
COURSE CALENDAR
This schedule, unlike the one in the syllabus document, will always be up-to-date and correct. Refer to it if you have questions about due dates.
| WEEK ONE | |
| TUE (08/25) | The mechanics of the class, syllabus overview, standard first-day stuff. |
| THU (08/27) | Read for Today: packet of handouts on Edward Said and Frantz Fanon |
| WEEK TWO—AFRICA | |
| TUE (09/01) | Read for Today: Heart of Darkness (all, pp 3-77) |
| THU (09/03) | Read for Today: Hochschild, "Meeting Mr. Kurtz" (HoD 171-181); one of the six essays in the "Nineteenth-Century Attitudes toward Race" section of HoD (pp 208-241) DUE by FRI 9:00am: blog post #1 (see assignment sheet) |
| WEEK THREE—AFRICA | |
| TUE (09/08) | Read for Today: Achebe, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" (HoD 336-349); Hawkins, "Heart of Darkness and Racism" (HoD 365-275); Miller, "Should we Read 'Heart of Darkness'?" (HoD 463-474) |
| THU (09/10) | Read for Today: Gikandi, "Chinua Achebe and the Invention of African Literature" (TFA 297-303); Things Fall Apart ch. 1-7 (pp 3-38) DUE by FRI 9:00am: blog post #2 (see assignment sheet) |
| WEEK FOUR—AFRICA | |
| TUE (09/15) | Read for Today: Things Fall Apart ch. 8-13 (pp 38-74) |
| THU (09/17) | Read for Today: Things Fall Apart ch. 14-end (pp 75-117) DUE by FRI 9:00am: blog post #3 (see assignment sheet) |
| WEEK FIVE—AFRICA | |
| TUE (09/22) | Read for Today: Adekoya, "Criticising the Critic: Achebe on Conrad" (TFA 189-200); Phillips, "Was Joseph Conrad Really a Racist?" (TFA 200-208) |
| THU (09/24) | *** NO CLASS MEETING *** DUE via e-mail by FRI 9:00am: SHORT ESSAY #1 (see assignment sheet) |
| WEEK SIX—CARIBBEAN | |
| TUE (09/29) | Read for Today: Carson, "The Sargasso Sea" (WSS 117-119); Brontė, excerpts from Jane Eyre (WSS 119-132); Erwin, "History and Narrative In Wide Sargasso Sea" (WSS 207-216) |
| THU (10/01) | Read for Today: Wide Sargasso Sea part 1 (pp 9-37) DUE by FRI 9:00am: blog post #4 (see assignment sheet) |
| WEEK SEVEN—CARIBBEAN | |
| TUE (10/06) | Read for Today: Wide Sargasso Sea part 2 (pp 38-104), Wide Sargasso Sea part 3 (pp 105-112), |
| THU (10/08) | Read for Today: Emery, "Modernist Crosscurrents" (WSS 161-172); Spivak, "Wide Sargasso Sea and a Critique of Imperialism" (WSS 240-250) DUE by FRI 9:00am: blog post #5 (see assignment sheet) |
| WEEK EIGHT—CARIBBEAN | |
| TUE (10/13) | Read for Today: The Mimic Men part 1 (pp 7-98) |
| THU (10/15) | Read for Today: The Mimic Men part 2 (pp 101-215) |
| WEEK NINE—CARIBBEAN | |
| TUE (10/20) | Read for Today: The Mimic Men part 3 (pp 219-301) I will hand out the TAKE HOME MID-TERM (DUE via e-mail by MON 10/26 9:00am) |
| THU (10/22) | *** NO CLASS MEETING *** |
| WEEK TEN—ASIA | |
| TUE (10/27) | Read for Today: Ha Jin, "Saboteur" (pp 3-16); Ha Jin, "A Tiger-Fighter is Hard to Find" (pp 54-70) |
| THU (10/29) | Read for Today: Ha Jin, "Alive" (pp 17-42); Ha Jin, "After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town" (pp 184-225) DUE by FRI 9:00am: blog post #6 (see assignment sheet) |
| WEEK ELEVEN—ASIA | |
| TUE (11/03) | Read for Today: Lahiri, "A Temporary Matter" (pp 2-22); Lahiri, "Interpreter of Maladies" (pp 43-69) |
| THU (11/05) | Read for Today: Lahiri, "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar" (pp 158-172); Lahiri, "The Third and Final Continent" (pp 173-198) DUE by FRI 9:00am: blog post #7 (see assignment sheet) |
| WEEK TWELVE—IRELAND | |
| TUE (11/10) | Read for Today: From Dubliners, "Araby" (pp 20-26); "Eveline" (pp 26-32); Ehrlich, "'Araby' in Context: The 'Splendid Bazaar,' Irish Orientalism, and James Clarence Mangan" (D pp 261-283) |
| THU (11/12) | Read for Today: From Dubliners, "A Painful Case" (pp 89-99); "The Dead" (pp 151-194) DUE by FRI 9:00am: blog post #8 (see assignment sheet) |
| WEEK THIRTEEN—IRELAND | |
| TUE (11/17) | Read for Today: Cal ch 1-3 (pp 7-90) |
| THU (11/19) | Read for Today: Cal ch 4-5 (pp 91-153) |
| THANKSGIVING WEEK | |
| TUE (11/24) | *** HOLIDAY: NO CLASS *** |
| THU (11/26) | *** HOLIDAY: NO CLASS *** |
| WEEK FOURTEEN—CYBERSPACE & THE FUTURE | |
| TUE (12/01) | Catch-up day before final push to the end. DUE via e-mail by MON 9:00am: SHORT ESSAY #2 (see assignment sheet) |
| THU (12/03) | Read by Today: The Diamond Age part I DUE by FRI 9:00am: blog post #9 (see assignment sheet) |
| WEEK FIFTEEN—CYBERSPACE & THE FUTURE | |
| TUE (12/08) | Read by Today: The Diamond Age part II |
| THU (12/10) | Individual 2-3 minute research topic presentations; course wrap-up. DUE by FRI 9:00am: blog post #10 (see assignment sheet) |
| ** THERE IS NO FINAL EXAM IN THIS CLASS ** However, your research papers will be due via e-mail on Wednesday, December 16th, by 9pm. |
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