autumn 2017 ENG-2114 Modernisms: World Literature in English - 10 ECTS

Application deadline

Applicants from Nordic countries: 1 June for the spring semester and 1 December for the autumn semester. Exchange students and Fulbright students: 1 October for the spring semester and 15 April for the autumn semester. Application code: 9199 (Nordic applicants).

Type of course

This course may be taken as a single course. A good command of oral and written English is required.

Admission requirements

Higher Education Entrance Qualification (generell studiekompetanse) or prior learning and work experience (realkompetanse). A good command of oral and written English is required.

Course content

"English literature" is much more than fiction and other texts published by British or American writers. In today's globalized world this is important to take into account when studying English. This course aims to cover some of the variety of writing offered by contemporary writers in the English-speaking world, from the Caribbean to Africa, from India to North America and Europe. Among the questions addressed in the course will be what kind of texts contemporary writers in English produce, for instance whether national or international themes and concerns dominate. In short, to what extent can it be said that the term "world literature" makes sense and/or is a fruitful one?

Objectives of the course

The students have the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The student has:

  • insight into the main formal and thematic characteristics of fiction
  • achieved in-depth knowledge of the individual texts studie
  •  achieved some understanding of the various social, historical, political and cultural forces which have led to the development of English as a world language, and of English literature as a "World Literature"

Skills

The student is able to / can:

  • acquire familiarity with a diversity of texts and genres of literature
  • develop proficiency in close reading, analysis, and interpretation of literature
  • be able to write and talk persuasively and effectively in English

Language of instruction and examination

Language of instruction and examination is English.

Teaching methods

The course will be scheduled in a flexibly used three-hour slot for nine weeks of seminars, lectures, and tutorials.

Quality assurance: The course undergoes a midterm evaluation or an end-of-term evaluation every third year.


Assessment

Coursework requirement: One oral presentation to be made in class, and one short essay (4-5 pages) due three weeks before the end of the semester. All written work is based on the following standard: Times New Roman, 12, 1,5, 2,5 cm.

Assessment method: A 6-hour school exam is the formal requirement for your mark, but you must have passed both coursework requirements in order to qualify to sit for the exam. Performance in the course will be assessed with the grades A-F. Grades are A-E for passed and F for failed. A re-examination is offered in the event of an F-grade. The deadline to register for re-examination is January 15th for the autumn semester and August 15th for the spring semester.


Recommended reading/syllabus

Students are expected to buy the following books (available at "Akademika"):

Concert of Voices: An Anthology of World Writing in English, edited by Victor J. Ramraj, second edition.
Broadview Press.

The Oxford Handbook of Global Modernisms. Edited by Mark Wollaeger and Matt Eatough. Oxford UP.

A complete list of short stories, essays and articles will be announced at the beginning of the semester.

 

COURSE READINGS:

Readings in Concert of Voices:

Rudyard Kipling: "White Man's Burden"

Ernest Crosby: "The Real 'White Man's Burden'"

Caryl Phillips: "Out of Africa: The Case Against Conrad"

Salman Rushdie: "'Commonwealth Literature' Does Not Exist"

V.S. Naipaul: "B. Wordsworth" and "Jasmine"

Jamaica Kincaid: "On Seeing England for the First Time"

Dambudzo Marechera: "Black Skin What Mask"

Nadine Gordimer: "Is There Nowhere Else Where We Can Meet?"

Chinua Achebe, "Girls at War"

Bessie Head: "The Collector of Treasures"

Ama Ata Aidoo: "No Sweetness Here"

Anita Desai: "Surface Textures"

Saros Cowasjee: "His Father's Medals"

Mulk Raj Anand: "Duty"

R. K. Narayan: "Mother and Son"

Bharati Mukherjee: "Hindus"

Neil Bissoondath: "Man as Plaything, Life as Mockery"

Rohinton Mistry: "Swimming Lessons"

Kathrine Mansfield: "The Garden Party"

Witi Ihimaera: "This Life is Weary"

Keri Hulme: "Hooks and Feelers"

Also a selection of poetry from Concert of Voices

 

Readings in The Oxford Handbook of Global Modernisms

Introduction

2. "Caribbean Modernism: Plantation to Planetary" by Mary Lou Emery

8. "Neither Mirror nor Mimic: Transnational Reading and Indian Narratives in English" by Jessica Berman

9. "Modernism and African Literature" by Neil Lazarus

12. "Poetry, Modernity, Globalization" by Jahan Ramazani

16. "Cosmopolitanism and Modernism" by Janet Lyon

17. "Jean Rhys: Left Bank Modernist as Postcolonial Intellectual" by Peter Kalliney

21. "World Modernisms, World Literature, and Comparativity" by Susan Stanford Friedman

 

Readings provided by the teacher:

Salman Rushdie: "The Courter"

V.S. Naipaul: "The Night Watchman's Occurrence Book"

Rhys, Jean: "Let Them Call It Jazz" and "The Day They Burned the Books"

Bessie Head: "The Wind and a Boy"

Ngugi wa Thiong'o: Excerpts from Decolonizing the Mind

Frantz Fanon: Excerpts from Black Skin, White Mask

Jamaica Kincaid: Excerpts from Lucy

Chinua Achebe: "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'"

Joseph Conrad: Excerpts from Heart of Darkness

Anita Desai: "The Domestic Maid"

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  • About the course
  • Campus: Tromsø |
  • ECTS: 10
  • Course code: ENG-2114