ENGL 190SA: |
Literature in English Outside England and the United States
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World Literature in English: South Asia |
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| Fall 2009 |
| Instructor: Bishnupriya Ghosh |
| Meets on: TR 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM GIRV 1116 moved to SH 1431 starting 10/6 |
| Prerequisites: Writing 2, 50, or 109; English 10; or upper-division standing |
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| Satisfies a GE area G and a Writing requirement |
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| May be repeated for credit providing the letter designations are different, but only 8 units can be applied toward the English major. |
Writers of South Asian origin have made a splash on the world literary stage, winning a slew of prizes and accolades in the last three decades. Their commercial and literary success has prompted literary critics to reflect on the distinction of this tradition of “world literature,” and to categorize them together despite the increasing mobility and geographic dispersion of the writers. More often than not, the critical conversation has reflexively questioned the very rubrics (“world literature,” “literatures in English,” “postcolonial” or “Anglophone” literature) under which the discussion ensues; and inevitably, ‘South Asia” as a historical location of culture has come under extensive scrutiny since many of these writers eschew national affiliations for an expansive cosmopolitanism for which they are strongly criticized. This course serves as an introduction to South Asian writing in English—to stalwarts such as Amitav Ghosh, Salman Rushdie, and R.K. Narayan, among others, and to rising stars such as Zadie Smith and Aravind Adiga—even as it asks students to interrogate the analytic and disciplinary categories under which we study them. We will read four novels, some poetry and non-fiction, a range of short fiction, literary criticism, and literary theory relevant to this inquiry. Students are expected to come prepared to discuss assigned texts; to write one major paper for the course; and to consolidate a “collection” of ten South Asian literary pieces (complete with an editor’s introduction) as a group project (with 5-6 peers).
Required Texts
Amitav Ghosh, The Calcutta Chromosome (1996)
Zadie Smith, White Teeth (2000)
Michael Ondaatje, Anil’s Ghost (2000)
Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger (2008)
Course Reader to be purchased from Associated Students (includes fiction, non-fiction, essays, poetry, criticism, and theory)
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