Course Description: The Economy of “World Literature”
The disciplinary rubric of “world literature” (and its corollaries such as “global literatures,” “literatures in English,” “literatures in translation,” “transnational literature”) has been the subject of much debate in the past two decades, with critics and proponents agreeing on one thing: the consolidation of particular texts under this framework, constitutive of literary archives, research agendas, pedagogic initiatives, and critical vocabularies, inevitably configures “the world” as the location of our shared culture. Since in our times of increased global interconnectedness such a location is no longer an universal but a highly contested one, the world-making capacities of “world literature” (as it defines what and how we read) has come under intense critical scrutiny. This will be the point of departure for our investigation of how reputed works in the category configure “the world.”
To comprehend how texts circulate as world literature (“Circulation”), how they garner value (“Recognition”), and how they endure or disappear (“Evolution”), we mobilize the notion of an economy as the structure of exchanges underwriting this literary category. Moving beyond global markets (even as these economic processes remain integral to the reputation and commercial success of representative works) economy refers to an organization of relations within a given field: the social, cultural, political, or financial exchanges that enable written texts to pass as “world literature.” The gamble is such materialist analyses will shore up the kinds of value particular literary artifacts gain or lose over time. Students will be expected to lead one class discussion and write a 15-page paper based on primary research (e.g. publishing history, the analysis of literary blogs or televisual book shows, or accreditation/prize history).
Organization
Past the first session (introduction to disciplinary concerns in English and Comparative Literature), the course will be divided into three segments:
Part I: Circulation: will focus primarily on materialist exchanges: a. Publication (publishing institutions, editions, paratexts such as prefaces or glossaries); b. Distribution (bookstores, online distribution, websites, translations); and c. Reception (reviews, blogs, and shows).
Part II: Recognition: will delve into the question of value: a. Acclaim (critical histories, writers’ celebrity, prizes and institutional honors); b. Bans (bans, burnings, controversies); and c. Belief (pacts with audiences, authenticity and fakery).
Part III: Evolution: will take a historical view of specific literary texts as they mutate or fossilize over time: a. Adaptations (revisions in audio and audiovisual media such as books-on-tape, films, television, music videos); b. Commons (legal cases on sequels and supplements); and c. Field (disciplinary and pedagogical questions around teaching, syllabus construction, lectures, and evaluative procedures).
Required Texts
Amos Tutola, The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952)
Naguib Mahfouz, Midaq Alley (1966 English translation of Zuqâq al-Midaq)
Ken Saro-Wiwa, Sozaboy (1985)
Amitav Ghosh, The Calcutta Chromosome (1996)
Course Reader (fiction, essays, criticism) Available on Associated Students
Screenings
Jorge Fons, Callejón de los Milagros (Miracle Alley, 1995)
Episode of Oprah Book Club Show
Interviews with “World Writers” (e.g. Jon Stewart, Charlie Rose, et al)
|
