ENGL 262 - Postcolonial Literatures

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

Study of contemporary literature written in English from Africa, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere. Readings in various genres by such writers as Chinua Achebe, Margaret Atwood, Janet Frame, Nadine Gordimer, V. S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, Derek Walcott, Patrick White. Some consideration of post-colonial literary theory.

Topic for 2022/23a: Postcolonial Literature: Speaking in Tongues. We focus in this course on the contemporary moment in postcolonial writing. Unlike many courses in postcolonial literature that only offer theoretical texts, here the emphasis is primarily, if not wholly, on literary voices. Nonfiction, poetry, drama, and, mainly, fiction. Toward the end of the course, after having been shaped by our experience of reading this literature, we collectively choose a few critical readings to debate our views, whether it be the militant theorizing of Frantz Fanon, the trial statement of Ken Saro-Wiwa, or Arundhati Roy speaking about capitalism as the new empire. The writers we read include Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jhumpa Lahiri, Ayad Akhtar, Hanif Kureishi, Jamaica Kincaid, Derek Walcott, Binyavanga Wainaina, Mohsin Hamid, Kiran Desai, Suketu Mehta, and Rajiv Joseph. Each student is expected to write a brief book report each week (two paragraphs at most) and, over the course of the semester, two papers about 8 pages in length. Attendance is required and class participation is strongly encouraged. Amitava Kumar.

This course satisfies the REGS requirements for the English major.

Three 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS