WGSS 380BSpecters of Colonialism

Catalog

This comparative literature course will focus on the effects of colonialism and empire as depicted in works of world literature from the 20th and 21st centuries. Especially of interest to us in this course will be the struggle of individuals to define their own sense of identity in the face of societal expectations-through gender, sexual, and racialized and colonized identities. This literature, possibly seen as one of resistance, attempts to find and develop aesthetic responses to a volatile and hostile world. In this course we will read literary works (novels, essays, plays, novellas and poems) from the Dutch Caribbean (Cynthia McLeod, Astrid Roemer, Felix de Rooy), the United States (Roxane Gay, Javier Zamora) and its occupied territories (Craig Santos Perez), Chile (Isabel Allende), Senegal (Mariama Ba), South Africa (Athol Fugard), Dominican Republic (Rita Indiana), Nigeria (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) and other parts of the world written in the 20th-21st centuries. Students will also be introduced to post-colonial literary theory as well as essays on world and comparative literature. Students will give at least 2 oral presentations and work on developing oral and listening skills.