English EH 236
Fall, 2003
T/TH 12:30-1:45 PM
Professor Lincoln Shlensky
Contact information:
E: shlensky@jaguar1.usouthal.edu
Ph: 251-460-7550
Office hours: T 1:45-3:15PM (and by appointment)
TH
1:45-3:15 PM (and by appointment)
World Literature Survey
II: The Center Cannot Hold
Course description:
Much of the worldÕs
fictional literature since at least the 17th century was produced
in, and meant to be consumed by, the West Ð that is, Europe and its colonial
settlements. The violent European
colonial conquest of Asia, Africa, South America and elsewhere, however,
unexpectedly produced a new literature of resistance and rebellion beginning in
the late 19th century that was neither written in the West nor
necessarily meant to be read there.
This course is designed to introduce students to a few of the creative
literary (and film) texts produced outside the traditional Western metropolitan
centers. In reading these novels
(and watching some related films) by Africans and Asians, we shall ask how
their authors speak to Ð indeed, in a sense create Ð intended readers, and how
they challenge the dominance of Western cultural models and political
ideals. We shall also examine the
ways in which the political and social challenge offered by postcolonial film
and literature reveals its inextricable entanglement with Western forms and
ideas. Our task will be to
consider how contemporary literature and film produced outside of the West
develops formal and political means with which to participate in, while
radically questioning, the existing and historic global order.
Requirements:
Full attendance and
participation in class discussion (15%); 1-page reading responses three times
during the semester (15%), one of which to be presented to the class; ÒpopÓ
quizzes covering course materials (15%); a 3-page mid-term paper due in week
nine (25%); and a 5-page final paper due promptly on Friday, December 5th,
the day after the final class meeting (30%). Please note that your mid-term and final essay grades
depend in part on your bringing a typed draft of each paper to class for peer
editing PRIOR to the assigned due date.
How do you know you have a
well-defined paper topic? You
should be able to express it in a form that fits the following format: ÒI am interested in asking this
QUESTION of this TEXT because I want to test this HYPOTHESIS.Ó
Your final paper must be
discussed with me in advance and you must receive my agreement. The final paper is due on Friday of the
last week of classes. No
incompletes, please.
During the course of the
semester, you will write three reader-response papers. These should be one page in length,
typed and double-spaced. The
purpose of these papers is to allow you to think more deeply and write about
the texts we are reading. Treat
these reader-response papers as initial drafts of your mid-term and final
papers, but also use them as opportunities for brainstorming and as tools for
reflection on classroom discussions.
Because all classes do not
progress at the same rate, the instructor may wish to modify the above
requirements or their timing as circumstances dictate. For example, the instructor may wish to
change the number and sequence of assignments. Students shall be given adequate notification of any such
changes.
Any absences beyond two (2)
shall result in reduction of the studentÕs grade by half a grade per absence.
Please set all cellular
phones to the ÒoffÓ position during class. Should you absolutely need to keep your cellphone on for
emergencies (e.g., if you have children or are on professional medical call),
please set the phone to Òvibrate.Ó
Plagiarism may be defined as
the unattributed incorporation of materials written by others into oneÕs own
work. Any work submitted to the
instructor that uses materials written by others without proper attribution
shall constitute grounds for failure of the course. If you do not know how to cite work written by others,
please consult the Modern Language Association Guide for Writers of Research
Papers.
All essays, including
reading responses, shall be submitted to the instructor in hard-copy form,
typed or word-processed, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins, in Times, Arial,
or an equivalent 12-point font (yielding approximately 250-275 words per
page). Students are responsible
for keeping an extra copy of all submitted materials; failure to do so will
result in denied credit should the submitted materials be lost or subject to
spontaneous combustion.
If written assignments are
handed in after the beginning of the class period during which they are due,
credit will be deducted by one grade (or the equivalent) per day, starting with
the due date.
If you have a specific
disability that qualifies you for academic accomodations, please notify the
professor and provide certification from Disability Services (Office of Special
Student Services). The Office of
Special Student Services is directed by Ms. Bernita Pulmas and is located in
the Student Center, Room 270, phone 460-7212.
Required texts:
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
J. M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians
Assia Djebar, Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade,
vol. 1
Selected handouts
World Literature Survey
II: The Center Cannot Hold
Schedule:
(ALL READING ASSIGNMENTS ARE
DUE ON THE DATE LISTED BELOW.)
Tuesday
Introduction
Kipling, ÒThe White ManÕs
BurdenÓ [handout]
Maps of colonization and
decolonization of Africa in The Bedford Anthology of World Literature,
pp. 100-101 [handout]
COLONIAL CONTEXTS
Thursday
Joseph Conrad, Heart of
Darkness, pp. 17-42
WEEK 2 Ð September 2/4
Tuesday
Conrad, Heart of Darkness,
pp. 43-71
Thursday
Conrad, Heart of Darkness,
pp. 71-99
WEEK 3 Ð September 9/11
Tuesday
Thursday
Chinua Achebe, ÒAn Image of
AfricaÓ in Bedford pp. 107-117 [reserve]
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, pp. 1-25
WEEK 4 Ð September 16/18
Tuesday
Achebe, Things Fall Apart, pp. 26-35, 52-62,
120-125
Thursday
Achebe, Things Fall Apart, pp. 136-167
WEEK 5 Ð September 23/25
Tuesday
Achebe, Things Fall Apart,
pp. 174-209
Thursday
Young, ÒConcepts in
History,Ó pp. 25-43
WEEK 6 Ð September
30/October 2
Tuesday
Frantz Fanon, from The
Wretched of the Earth in Bedford, pp. 129-135 [reserve]
Fanon, from The Wretched
of the Earth in Williams and Chrisman, pp. 36-52 [reserve]
Thursday
Isaac Julian, Frantz
Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask (video excerpts in class)
J. M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians,
1-30
WEEK 7 Ð October 7/9
Tuesday
Isaac Julian, Frantz
Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask (further excerpts in class)
Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians, 30-60
WHOSE HISTORY?
Coetzee, Waiting for the
Barbarians, 60-90
WEEK 8 Ð October 14/16
Tuesday
Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians, 90-130
Thursday
Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians, 130-156
WEEK 9 Ð October 21/23
Tuesday
Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers (video
excerpts in class)
Assia Djebar, Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade,
pp. 1-34
Thursday
Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers (video
excerpts in class)
Djebar, Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade, pp.
35-70
WEEK 10 Ð October 28/30
Tuesday
Djebar, Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade, pp.
70-100
Thursday
Djebar, Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade, pp.
101-129
WEEK 11 Ð November 4/6
Tuesday
Djebar, Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade, pp. 130-167
Thursday
Djebar, Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade, pp.
169-200
WEEK 12 Ð November 11/13
Tuesday
Djebar, Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade, pp.
201-227
Thursday
WEEK 13 Ð November 18/20
Tuesday
Thursday
FINAL PAPER TOPIC MUST BE APPROVED BY TODAY
WEEK 14 Ð November 25/27
Tuesday
[Thanksgiving]
WEEK 15 Ð December 2/4
Tuesday
Thursday
Concluding discussion
FINAL PAPERS ARE DUE ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5TH. No late final papers or incompletes,
please.