ENG217 Topics in Fiction: Postcolonial Literature:
Diaspora, Exile, Migration
Spring 2013
Meeting Times: Tuesday and
Fridays, 9.00-10.30
Location: A007
Instructor: Dr. Sandra Zito
Email: szito@uci.edu
Office: M004
Office Phone: 2117
Office Hours: Tuesdays: 11.00-12.00,
or by appointment
Course Description: This course focuses on the development, in the
post-war period, of Anglophone postcolonial fiction, its rise to global
prominence, and its relationship to the decentralization and, effectively, the
globalization of ÒEnglish studiesÓ. Particular areas of focus may include questions
of literary history (magical realism, the impact of orality and oral
traditions, the reinvention of myth, the re-appropriation of the canon, the
relationship between postcolonialism and postmodernism), and the study of the
role of specific geographical regions or transregional formations.
This course specifically
focuses on one salient theme within Anglophone postcolonial fiction:
displacement. To that end, this class will discuss novels, short stories and
poetry pertaining to three types of postcolonial displacement: diaspora,
migration and exile. Some topics that will be discussed are histories of
colonialism and migration, various forms of exile and homelessness, the
politics of nations and homelands, multiculturalism, race and racism, identity
politics, cosmopolitanism,
borders, borderlands, hybridity, translation, and double consciousness.
Student Learning Objectives:
At the end of this course students
should be able to:
á
Have greater
fluency with reading, writing and speaking the English language
á
Analyze texts
that address the themes of diaspora, migration and exile within postcolonial
literature and poetry
á Compare, contrast and
critically examine various literary approaches to the experiences of the
histories of colonialism, decolonization and postcoloniality
á Compare, contrast and
critically examine debates on national identity, homelessness, belonging,
alienation, cosmopolitanism, borders, and hybridity in postcolonial theory and
literature
Required Texts:
Course Reader, available at
PC Copy Shop
Ghosh, Amitav. The Shadow Lines (1989)
Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies (1999)
Course Assignments:
Group Work/
Class Participation 30%
Midterm Exam 30%
Final Exam 40%
Course Expectations and Requirements: This class will be a combination of short lectures,
small group work, and class discussion. Small group work and class discussion
will revolve around the assigned reading for the day, so please bring the
reading with you to each class and be prepared to discuss it. The mid-term and
final exam will draw primarily from the weekly readings and group discussion
and will consist of keyword/concepts and short essay questions derived from
group discussion and lectures.
***Syllabus Subject to Change***
Weekly Schedule:
Week 1: Introduction:
Diaspora, Exile and Migration in Postcolonial Fiction
January 22: Introduction: Postcolonial Fiction
Readings:
January 25: Ashcroft, Bill, etc. ÒIntroductionÓ The
Empire Writes Back (1989); Braziel, Jana Evans and Mannur, Anita. ÒNation,
Migration, Globalization: Points of Contention In Diaspora StudiesÓ, (2003),
1-19
Module
I: Diaspora
Week 2: Going
Away: Imagined Communities I: National Identities
Readings:
January 29: Ghosh, Amitav. The Shadow Lines (1989), 3-25
February 1: Anderson,
Benedict. ÒCultural RootsÓ and ÒThe Origins of National ConsciousnessÓ in Imagined Communities: Reflections on the
Origin and Spread of Nationalism, (1983; 1991) 9-36; 37-46.
Week 3: Going
Away II: Imagined Communities II: Diasporic Identities
Readings:
February 5: Ghosh, Amitav. The Shadow Lines (1989), 26-67
February 8: Rushdie,
Salman. ÒImaginary HomelandsÓ in Imaginary
Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981-1991 (1991), 9-21; Hall, Stuart.
ÒCultural Identity and DiasporaÓ in Colonial
Discourse and Post-colonial Theory: A Reader, edited by Patrick Williams
and Laura Chrisman (1994),
Week 4:
Diasporic Culture: India Abroad
Readings:
February 12: Ghosh, Amitav.
The Shadow Lines (1989), 68-106
February 15: Shukla,
Sandhya. ÒDiasporic Literature: Fictions of Nations, of India in BritainÓ in India Abroad: Diasporic Cultures of Postwar
America and England (2003), 149-155.
Week 5: Coming
Home
Readings:
February 19: Ghosh, Amitav.
The Shadow Lines (1989), 107-132
February 22: Ghosh, Amitav.
The Shadow Lines (1989), 133-158
Week 6: Going
Away
Readings:
February 26: Ghosh, Amitav.
The Shadow Lines (1989), 159-184
March 1: Ghosh, Amitav. The Shadow Lines (1989), 185-210
Week 7: Borders,
Partition, Private Memories, Public Histories
Readings:
March 5: Ghosh,
Amitav. The Shadow Lines (1989),
211-236
March 8: Ghosh,
Amitav. The Shadow Lines (1989),
236-246; Interview with Ghosh, Amitav in Guernica: A Magazine of Art and
Politics, ÒAmitav Ghosh: Products of FollyÓ
Module
II: Exile
Week 8: Homelessness
Readings:
March 12: Mid-term
March 15: Said, Edward.
ÒIntellectual Exile: Expatriates and MarginalsÓ (1993) in The Edward Said Reader, 368-381
Darwish, Mahmoud. Selected
Poems
Week 9: Geography,
History, Identity
March 19: Darwish, Mahmoud.
Selected Poems
March 22: Said, Edward.
ÒImaginative Geography and Its Representations: Orientalizing the OrientalÓ in Orientalism
(1978), 49-73.
Module
III: Migration
Week 10: Class
Divisions: Intellectual vs. Manual Labor
Readings:
March 26: Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies, 1-42
March 29: TBA
Week 11:
Melancholia
Readings:
April 2: Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies, 43-110
April 5: TBA
Week 12: Racism,
Minorities and Multiculturalism
Readings:
April 9: Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies, 111-157
April 12: Rushdie, Salman.
ÒThe New Empire Within BritainÓ in Imaginary
Homelands (1981), 129-138
Week 13:
Globalization
Readings:
April 16: Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies, 158-198
April 19: Appadurai, Arjun.
ÒDisjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural EconomyÓ in Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of
Globalization (1996), 27-47
Exam Prep: April 22-26
Easter Recess: April 29-May 12
Final Exam: TBA