Postcolonial Literature (English 445, section 02)

Ruth Feingold
Montgomery 125 x4241
rpfeingold@osprey.smcm.edu

Objectives

If you're not entirely sure what "postcolonial literature" means, you're not alone. "Postcolonial" means many things to many people--some, in fact, argue that the word is so vague as to be essentially meaningless. At the level of stripped-down fact, though, "postcolonial literature" most often refers to writing from countries and regions that were formerly part of the British Empire: India, Pakistan, the West Indies, South Africa, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Canada, etc. At a jazzier level, one could say that postcolonial literature is about the writing of empire, and also about writing against empire. Produced in countries profoundly shaped by their interaction with Britain, yet also strongly defined against it, postcolonial literature lends itself to discussions of place and identity, belonging and exile, power and complicity.

In this course, we'll focus on contemporary narratives from three major geographical areas: southern Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and the South Pacific. Reading literature produced by descendents of both colonizers and colonized, we'll explore the lasting artistic, psychological, and political impacts of colonization. You can expect not only to read, discuss, and write about texts as individual works of art, but also to read essays on the topic of postcoloniality, and to debate its implications in the specific regions we study. No specific knowledge of regional history required--we'll fill in as we go along.

Texts

Nervous Conditions (1988), Tsitsi Dangarembga
Once Were Warriors (1990), Alan Duff
Owls Do Cry (1960), Janet Frame
My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Stephen Frears (D), Hanif Kureishi (W)
Burger's Daughter (1979), Nadine Gordimer
the bone people (1983), Keri Hulme
Midnight's Children (1980), Salman Rushdie
Cracking India (1991), Bapsi Sidhwa
Meatless Days (1989), Sara Suleri
assorted handouts

Class Readings

Midnight's Children to end
Cracking India to p. 66
Cracking India to p.149

My Beautiful Laundrette M&W
Meatless Days chapters 1& 2

"'Travelling Light':home and the immigrant genre"
Burger's Daughter to p. 61

Burger's Daughter to p. 299
Burger's Daughter to p. 361 (end)
prison writings

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Class attendance/participation/presentation

This course is a seminar, and a high level of responsibility for what happens in class devolves on all participants. You'll be expected to show up regularly--having not just read the texts, but read them thoughtfully, so that you can participate fully in discussion.

In addition to regular class participation, you'll be asked in the second week of class to pick one of the books on the syllabus, and be prepared to lead class on one of the days we study that text. You should expect to open with a semi-formal presentation of about 15-20 minutes, then to guide the class in discussion of the points you have raised.

Prep papers

For each book we study (as well as the film, My Beautiful Laundrette ), you'll be asked to write a short (400-800 word) essay due at the beginning of class on the day we FIRST discuss that text. These prep papers are designed to get you thinking in a more focused way about what you've read, and while they don't have to display the polish of a term paper, they should still be reasonably intelligible. No late papers will be accepted, period. On the other hand, you're allowed to skip any two you want, for any reason--no advance warning needed.

Term paper

This paper, due near the end of the semester, should be an articulate, intelligent, finely-honed analysis (12-15 pages) of one or more of the works we have studied in class--or, with instructor's permission, of another postcolonial novel. All topics (whether on a book from class or not) should be approved in advance. You may not write about the same book you presented on in class. But it'll be fun, really--I promise.