Fall 2002
Text
Ordered at the Bookstore:
Arthur W.
Biddle, Global Voices: Contemporary Literature from the Non-Western World
Films: Burn! (Gillo Pontecorvo) & West Beyrouth (Ziad
Doueiri)
Course
Description: The basic
aim of this course is to serve as an introduction to the literature of the
major regions of the non-Western world. We will particularly focus on short
stories, poems and plays that represent the non-Western literature of the past
thirty years. Through literature (and film), we will try to understand some of
the basic issues of postcolonial development: identity, gender, race, politics
and power, alienation and exile, society and individual after independence. Upon
completion of this course, all students should be able to demonstrate an
understanding of a variety of cultures and their literary traditions and
knowledge of specific texts within world literature. By embracing these texts, many of which
provide guiding principles for the cultures they represent, you will become
more familiar not only with the writings considered central to certain
non-Western cultures but also with the ideological and social bases of the
cultures themselves.
Student
Learning Goals
At
the completion of this course, the student will be able to:
·
Identify
and understand varied characteristics of literature
·
Apply
techniques of literary analysis to texts
·
Use
literary study to develop skills in careful reading and clear writing
·
Demonstrate
understanding of the diverse social and historical contexts in which literary
texts have been written and interpreted
·
Courses
will be broad and foundational in nature; they will not assume extensive
previous knowledge
· Courses will satisfy most (if not all) of these guidelines
Course
Syllabus:
Week 1
08/20 Introduction
08/22 The Caribbean
Introduction
Kincaid, Girl
Lamming, A Wedding in Spring
Marshall, from The
Chosen Place, The Timeless People
08/28 Rhys, The
Day They Burned the Books
Schwarz-Bart, from The Bridge of Beyond
Nichols,
Wherever I Hang; Tropical Death
08/29 Cliff, If I Could Write This in Fire, I
Would Write This in Fire
Goodison, For My Mother (May
I Inherit Half Her Strength).
Césaire, from Return
to My Native Land
Zobel, The Gift
09/03 Naipaul, from The Mystic Masseur
Film: Burn! (Gillo
Pontecorvo)
09/05 Film: Burn!, CONTINUED
09/10 Introduction
Borges, The Circular Ruins
Valenzuela, The Censors
Rosa, The Third Bank of the River
09/12 Neruda, Heights of Macchu Picchu
García Marquez, Balthazar's
Marvelous Afternoon
09/17 Carpentier,
Like the Night
Lima, from Paradiso
Asturias, Angel Face
09/19 Paz, San Ildefonso Nocturne
Fuentes, The Doll Queen
Llosa, from The War at
the End of the World
Week 6 Sub-Saharan Africa (Quiz #2)
09/24 Introduction
Head, The Collector of
Treasures
Aidoo, Something to Talk
About on the Way to the Funeral
09/26 Thiong'o, Minutes of Glory
Achebe, The Madman
10/01 Soyinka, The Strong Breed
10/03 Senghor, New York
Ousmane, Tribal Scars or The
Voltaique
Gordimer, Comrades
10/08 Introduction
Djebar, There Is No Exile
10/10 Mahfouz, Zaabalawi
Hedayat, The Stray Dog
Week 9
10/15 Fall Break: No Class
10/17 MID-TERM EXAMINATION
Week 10 The Middle East
10/22 Al-Sayyab, Rain Song
Agnon, At the Outset of the
Day
Habibi, The Gypsy
Nasrallah, Our Daily Bread
10/24 Kanafani, Death of Bed Number 12
Salih, The Doum Tree of Wad
Hamid
Nazim
Hikmet Ran, On Living; The Strangest Creature on Earth
10/29 Film: West Beyrouth (Ziad Doueiri)
10/31 Film: West Beyrouth, CONTINUED
Week 12 South Asia (Quiz #4)
11/05 Introduction
Pritam, The Weed
Devi, Breast-Giver
11/07 Verma, Process of Change; Half-an- Hour's Argument
Dhoomil, The City, Evening,
and an Old Man: Me
Lankesh, Bread
Masud, The Color of
Nothingness
11/12 Desai, The Farewell Party
Lakshmi, A Rat and a Sparrow
11/14 Lamichhane, The Half-Closed Eyes of the
Buddha and the Slowly Setting Sun
Sajjad, The Bird
Asghar, The Wagon
Week 14 East Asia (Quiz #5)
11/19 Introduction
Naishan, Why Parents Worry
Dao,
13 Happiness Street
11/21 Hsien-yung, Glory's by Blossom Bridge
Yasunari, Up in the Tree; Immortality;
The Cereus
12/03 Fumiko, Boxcar of Chrysanthemums
Yukio, Yoroboshi: The Blind
Young Man
12/05 Mariko, Wine
Sunwon, Cranes; Masks
Wrap-up
12/16 FINAL EXAMINATION
*****
Requirements:
1.
Regular Attendance and Class Participation 15%
2.
Quizzes 15%
3.
Mid-Term Examination 30%
4.
Final Examination 40%
Course
Grade: 100%