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Home , Postcolonial literature

ANGL 3721 Postcolonial Autumn 2012

Professor: Andrea Cabajsky Office: Fine Arts 244-B Email: [email protected] Phone: 858.4244 Office Hours: T./Th. 9:00-12:00; or, by appointment

Calendar Description: This course serves as a general introduction to postcolonial literature and 1 theory. We will examine the effects of on the of , , South Africa, and others, including, where relevant, countries from the Francophonie.

Detailed Description: This course will introduce you to a growing body of exceptional writing known as “Postcolonial Literature.” Although it is difficult to identify a point of origin for Postcolonial Studies, scholars generally agree that it originated in 1978 when the renowned theorist published , his ground-breaking examination of Western (mis)conceptions about the Orient. Said’s Orientalism became the catalyst for Postcolonial Studies, which explores the ways in which historically marginalized peoples and cultures have gained agency through their writing. Postcolonial literary strategies and reading practices connect the acquisition of literary agency with writers’ and readers’ larger efforts to explore the ramifications of colonial history and cultural decolonization. The books on our syllabus represent some of the most celebrated works published in recent years by some of the most acclaimed (and controversial) writers of the last four decades. These books might come to represent some of the most exciting, unforgettable, and even difficult texts you have had to read. There is no doubt that the authors of these texts deal honestly and expertly with historical and sociopolitical events or controversies that have defined their communities. Postcolonial Studies aims to encourage readers to think about their place in the world and to explore meaningfully and subtly why things have come to be the way they are. Postcolonial Studies also aims to encourage scholars and students to think about the ways in which ideas of place and home invariably intersect with factors such as class, gender, race, culture, and history. In addition to examining literary texts, we will investigate responses to , anti-colonialism, and processes of decolonization in other forms of cultural production, namely critical essays, , and/or documentary films.

Method of Instruction: A combination of lectures and class discussion, with a particular emphasis on developing students’ responses to the readings. There is a very strong emphasis in this course on weekly readings. Students not in a position to devote weekly periods of time to this course (as opposed to a large chunk of time at the end) should take this design feature of the course into consideration.

Course Objectives:  To introduce students to key terms and concepts in Postcolonial Studies  To read a range of postcolonial fiction with reference to its historical-cultural context and its contemporary reception  To examine the methods used by writers who deploy literature as a means of communicating or coming to terms with legacies of imperialism  To discuss the efficacy of literary techniques that have been employed by writers to challenge dominant stereotypes about culture, race, class, gender, and/or history ANGL 3721 Postcolonial Literature Autumn 2012

Course Learning Outcomes: By the end of this course, students should:  Be familiar with some key terms and concepts in Postcolonial Studies;  Be able to cite literary methods used by postcolonial authors to challenge dominant assumptions;  Be able to plan, write, and revise substantial critical essays about literature with original insights and effective argumentation, organization, evidence, and analysis;  Be able to appreciate the value of literary study in fostering growth, socio- 2 cultural awareness, and responsible, engaged, active citizenship.

Texts (in order they will be read): 1. , Midnight’s Children () 2. Zadie Smith, White Teeth (Britain) 3. , () 4. J.M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians (South Africa) 5. Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach (Canada) 6. , Black Skin, White Masks () 7. Custom Course Pack containing literature, theory, and criticism (available on Clic)

Evaluation:  Attendance and Participation (5%)  Seminar Presentation and Write-Up (15%)  Midterm Exam (15%)  Research Paper (30%)  Final Exam (25%)

Grading Scale:

A+ 94-100 B 80-84 C- 68-69 A 90-93 B- 78-79 D+ 64-67 A- 88-89 C+ 74-77 D 60-63 B+ 85-87 C 70-73 E 0-59

Please note: 1. Please note the University’s Regulation 10.9.2, which stipulates that any presentation or exam missed or delayed without prior approval will be recorded as a failure (E). 2. Please note the English Department’s policy that late assignments will be penalized at a rate of 10% per day, up to a maximum of 30% per assignment. To this policy I add the following: you have until the day of the final exam to submit all outstanding assignments. If you fail to do so, you will receive a grade of 0 on that assignment. Needless to say, if you have not received prior approval, please do not come to me during the final exam to request an extension on an overdue assignment. The extension will not be granted. 3. Please ensure that you have read and understood the following document: Énoncé des droits et responsabilités des étudiantes et étudiants de l’Université de Moncton. You will find it in the Repertoire and on the University’s website.

ANGL 3721 Postcolonial Literature Autumn 2012

Course Schedule: *The schedule below may change according to students’ needs.

 Preparation/Assignments Date Course Content Due  Syllabus distributed in class  If you lose your syllabus, September 11 Introduction 3 download a copy from my website or Clic September 13 Midnight’s Children September 18 Midnight’s Children  Alternative Date: Sept. 19, September 20 Midnight’s Children 1.30-2.45; Sept. 19, 4.30-5.45; or Sept. 20, 4.30-5.45 Edward Said, from  Find it on Clic, read in September 25 Orientalism: “The Scope of advance, bring to class Orientalism”  Presentations September 27 White Teeth October 2 White Teeth October 4 White Teeth R. Radhakrishnan, “Is the  Find on Clic, read, bring to October 9 Ethnic Authentic in the class ?”  Presentations October 11 Things Fall Apart October 16 Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe: “The African Writer and the  Find them on Clic, read in ”; Ngũgĩ October 18 advance, bring to class wa Thiong’o: “The  Presentations Language of ” October 23 Waiting for the Barbarians  Midterm Exam Topic October 25 Waiting for the Barbarians Submitted (Take-Home) Reading Break: Class October 30 Cancelled Reading Break: Class November 1 Cancelled Waiting for the Barbarians November 6 concluded / begin Monkey  Midterm Exam Due in class Beach ANGL 3721 Postcolonial Literature Autumn 2012

 Preparation/Assignments Date Course Content Due November 8 Monkey Beach November 13 Monkey Beach

Short Story: “The One  Find on Clic, read in advance, 4 November 15 About Coyote Going West” bring to class by Thomas King  Find on Clic, read in advance, Thomas King, “Godzilla vs November 20 bring to class Post-Colonial”  Presentations November 22 Black Skin, White Masks November 27 Black Skin, White Masks Wrapping Up Black Skin, November 29  Presentations White Masks December 4 Final Exam Prep  Research Papers Due

PARTICIPATION will be evaluated based on the following: regular timely attendance; bringing required texts to class; completing in advance the required reading (and no, reading on the bus on the way to campus does not count as “thoughtful” reading); above all, being respectful of your colleagues in the class. Please note the University’s Regulation 10.9.1, which stipulates that more than three unjustifiable absences will not be tolerated. Absences for medical reasons require a medical note.

PRESENTATION (15 minutes): Once in the semester, you will be responsible for facilitating a class discussion on one article from the weekly readings. Students will sign up for articles on the second day of classes, so please review the syllabus and come to class ready to make your selections. If you prefer to be evaluated on assignments earlier in the term, then please sign up for one of the first presentations. If you prefer to wait as you situate yourself in relation to the readings, then please sign up for one of the later presentations. Think about alternatives as you may not get your first choice. The purpose of this exercise is to stimulate classroom discussion, to get you started on putting together your bibliography for your term paper (a research assignment), and also, more importantly, to demonstrate that you have read, understood, and are capable of structuring a meaningful response to, the article of criticism or theory that you have been assigned. I suggest that you begin your presentation by outlining what you believe to be the major arguments in the article. It would be helpful as well to spend some time talking about your process of reading the article. What personal resources did you bring to your reading? What outside resources did you consult? What parts of the article require further clarification for you? Beyond this, try to discuss your own critical engagement with the piece you have chosen. How did the article influence your own thinking? How (if at all) would you challenge the author’s conclusions? How does this article relate to the other texts we have read in class? Finally, pose a few questions to the class that you believe will stimulate further discussion of the article’s major ANGL 3721 Postcolonial Literature Autumn 2012 themes. Many students find making class presentations extremely challenging. If you need to read from a prepared text in order to feel comfortable, you are welcome to do so. Don’t forget to submit a write-up of your presentation on the day you present.

The MIDTERM EXAM is a take-home assignment due in class on Monday, November 6. (I will post the article onto Clic by October 25, that is, the week before the reading break.) For this assignment, you will be given an article to read, plus a list of questions about the article to which 5 you will respond. The article deals with, and defines, key terms and topics in Postcolonial Studies. This is basically a reading comprehension assignment. You will be evaluated on clarity of thought and expression, as well as on accuracy of response. Differently put, when grading your assignment, I will be trying to determine whether or not you’ve understood the definitions of key terms and topics that the article provides. The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to key terms and topics in Postcolonial Studies, as well as to help prepare you to write your final exam (which will test your understanding of some of those terms.)

The end-of-term RESEARCH PAPER (8-10 pages) requires you to integrate original research with your argument, while developing an intelligent and arguable thesis that takes into account at least one author and/or text studied in this course. You may consider the critical essays you will have read in class as legitimate research sources to use for this assignment. Alternatively, for more ideas, please see the select bibliography below, or come borrow some books/articles from my office library.

The FINAL EXAM will include three sections: identification of key terms or issues studied in class; identification and explication of key passages; and an essay question. Each section of the exam will provide choice. This exam will be closed-book. Please take care to leave all books, notes, and electronics at home or in your bag. If you normally use a cell phone or similar electronic device to gauge the time, please plan to bring a watch on exam day. Alternatively, I will count down the time on the chalk board provided in the classroom.

A NOTE ON COMMON COURTESY OVER E-MAIL: With respect to e-mail exchanges, please use a proper salutation (do not address me as “Hey” or “Hey there” or “Heya Andrea”). Use a proper signature at all times. I will do the same in my e-mails to you.

ABOUT WIKIPEDIA: Wikipedia can serve as a useful starting point for basic research. It is not, however, an acceptable academic resource. You should never quote from Wikipedia and, needless to say, you should never rely exclusively on it. The Bibliothèque Champlain subscribes to many scholarly databases that are far better suited to research at the university level. I would be more than happy to help you navigate these databases.

PLAGIARISM: Plagiarism is a crime. Please see the University’s Regulation 10.9.3 on the repercussions of plagiarism. In the meantime, I remind you that the word plagiarism derives from the Latin term plagiarius, meaning “a person who abducts the child or slave of another, kidnapper, seducer, also a literary thief” (Oxford English Dictionary). Plagiarism includes not only uncredited essays, but also uncredited paragraphs, phrases, terms, ideas, even syntax (i.e. sentence structure). You may be surprised to learn that it is possible to plagiarize yourself: one key example includes resubmitting work (or part of another work) that you have already ANGL 3721 Postcolonial Literature Autumn 2012 submitted for another course, without permission to do so. There are acceptable ways to build on your previous scholarship—ask me, and I will tell you what they are.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY (Where subject of the essay is not clear from the title, I have supplied a brief annotation to help you make your selections.)

Boyarin, J. And Boyarin, D. Powers of Diaspora: Two Essays on the Relevance of Jewish 6 Culture. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 2002.

Edwards, Justin D. Postcolonial Literature: A Reader’s Guide to Essential Criticism. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Fee, Margery. ''Who Can Write as Other?'' [Can 'white' people write sympathetically and convincingly about the marginalized? Also, who determines who is 'other'?] The Postcolonial Studies Reader. Ed. Bill Ashcroft, Fareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. London: Routledge, 1995. 242-45.

Fludernik, Monika. Diaspora and Multiculturalism. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2003.

Goldie, Terry. ''The Representation of the Indigene.'' [Representations of 'Native' identity.] The Postcolonial Studies Reader. Ed. Bill Ashcroft, Fareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. London: Routledge, 1995. 232-36.

Gilroy, Paul. “There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack”: The Cultural Politics of Race and . Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1991.

Gurnah, Abdulrazak. The Cambridge Companion to Salman Rushdie. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007.

Hall, Stuart. ''Cultural Identity and Diaspora.'' Colonial and Postcolonial Theory: A Reader. Ed. Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. New York: Columbia UP, 1994. 392-403.

Innes, C.L. The Cambridge Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures in English. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007.

Lamming, George. ''The Occasion for Speaking.'' [About being a cultural and racial 'exile' in Britain. Also, what it means to be a minority writer living abroad.] The Postcolonial Studies Reader. Ed. Bill Ashcroft, Fareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. London: Routledge, 1995. 12-17.

Lane, Richard J. The Postcolonial Novel. Cambridge: Policy, 2006.

Minh-ha, Trinh T. ''No Master Territories.'' [About what is at stake when a writer from the margins takes on the dominant culture.] The Postcolonial Studies Reader. Ed. Bill Ashcroft, Fareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. London: Routledge, 1995. 215-18. Mukherjee, Arun. ''Interrogating : Some Uneasy Conjunctures.'' [About ANGL 3721 Postcolonial Literature Autumn 2012 being an Indian immigrant to Canada; also about being a dark-skinned person in a primarily 'white' country.] Postcolonialism: My Living. Toronto: TSAR, 1998. 16-40.

“General Resources in Anglophone and Postcolonial Literatures.” Voice of the Shuttle. Website created by Alan Liu and hosted by UC Santa Barbara. http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=1192

Rushdie, Salman. Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism, 1981-1991. London: 7 Granta, 1992. [see esp. the essay ''Imaginary Homelands.'' You will find this book in the Bibliothèque Champlain.]

Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage, 1979.

Sugars, Cynthia. Unsettled Remains: and the Postcolonial Gothic. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier UP, 2009. [Contains a chapter on Monkey Beach.]

Tiffin, Helen. ''Post-colonial Literatures and Counter-discourse.'' [Responds to Lamming's essay. Also asks question: is it possible for former colonized cultures to recover a 'pre-imperial' past where their 'true' cultural identity lies? Is it possible to turn back time?] The Postcolonial Studies Reader. Ed. Bill Ashcroft, Fareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. London: Routledge, 1995. 95-8.

Wisker, Gina. Key Concepts in Postcolonial Literature. Baskingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.