Difference between revisions of "2008 AM Center and Margin: Conversations across the British Literary Tradition"

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"Center and Margin: Conversations across the British Literary Tradition"
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'''"Center and Margin: Conversations across the British Literary Tradition"'''
  
 
The British literary tradition begins with a story of movement between center and periphery, with a hero called to banish a monstrous outsider and restore the peace of a kingdom that is not his own. Thus, motion complicates the idea of the center – the site of cultural and political authority – and the margin – that which is considered outside, other, even monstrous. This negotiation raises questions about how we define these poles and how they influence one another, and this course will explore how writers throughout the British tradition, from earlier canonical authors to contemporary multicultural voices, have used this idea of travel to examine questions of cultural authority and to define their relationship to the idea of Britishness.  
 
The British literary tradition begins with a story of movement between center and periphery, with a hero called to banish a monstrous outsider and restore the peace of a kingdom that is not his own. Thus, motion complicates the idea of the center – the site of cultural and political authority – and the margin – that which is considered outside, other, even monstrous. This negotiation raises questions about how we define these poles and how they influence one another, and this course will explore how writers throughout the British tradition, from earlier canonical authors to contemporary multicultural voices, have used this idea of travel to examine questions of cultural authority and to define their relationship to the idea of Britishness.  
  
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Class requirements:
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'''Class requirements:'''
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For everyone: regular attendance, active participation (especially during class sessions designated “discussion”), three short one-two page response essays, occasional out-of-class exercises as assigned; for advanced credit (6 KP), students must complete a ten-twelve page research paper preceded by a one-two page research proposal or 10-minute oral presentation (students wishing to pursue this option should consult with me).
 
For everyone: regular attendance, active participation (especially during class sessions designated “discussion”), three short one-two page response essays, occasional out-of-class exercises as assigned; for advanced credit (6 KP), students must complete a ten-twelve page research paper preceded by a one-two page research proposal or 10-minute oral presentation (students wishing to pursue this option should consult with me).
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'''Course Texts:'''
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Seamus Heaney, translator, ''Beowulf''
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William Shakespeare, ''The Tempest''
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Jonathan Swift, ''Gulliver's Travels''
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Christina Rossetti, ''Goblin Market''
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Jean Rhys, ''Wide Sargasso Sea''
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Wole Soyinka, ''Death and the King's Horseman''
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A list of materials for further reading will be provided as the class progresses.
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'''Class Schedule:'''
  
 
Lecture 1: May 19
 
Lecture 1: May 19

Revision as of 17:26, 14 May 2008

Please note that this course will start on May 19!

"Center and Margin: Conversations across the British Literary Tradition"

The British literary tradition begins with a story of movement between center and periphery, with a hero called to banish a monstrous outsider and restore the peace of a kingdom that is not his own. Thus, motion complicates the idea of the center – the site of cultural and political authority – and the margin – that which is considered outside, other, even monstrous. This negotiation raises questions about how we define these poles and how they influence one another, and this course will explore how writers throughout the British tradition, from earlier canonical authors to contemporary multicultural voices, have used this idea of travel to examine questions of cultural authority and to define their relationship to the idea of Britishness.


Class requirements:

For everyone: regular attendance, active participation (especially during class sessions designated “discussion”), three short one-two page response essays, occasional out-of-class exercises as assigned; for advanced credit (6 KP), students must complete a ten-twelve page research paper preceded by a one-two page research proposal or 10-minute oral presentation (students wishing to pursue this option should consult with me).

Course Texts:

Seamus Heaney, translator, Beowulf William Shakespeare, The Tempest Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels Christina Rossetti, Goblin Market Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea Wole Soyinka, Death and the King's Horseman

A list of materials for further reading will be provided as the class progresses.


Class Schedule:

Lecture 1: May 19 Translating Beowulf : A Contemporary Poet and a Cultural Artifact

Lecture 2: May 26 Beowulf: The Monster, the Hero and the Cycle of Conquest and Revenge

Discussion 1: Time to be determined, week of May 26 Beowulf: Issues in Textual Analysis

Lecture 3: June 2 William Shakespeare, The Tempest: The Island as Otherwhere, or Recreating the Center on the Margin

Discussion 2: Time to be determined, week of June 2 The Tempest: Close Reading and Performance Issues

Lecture 4: June 9 Jonanthan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels, Book 4: The Center as Margin

Discussion 3: Time to be determined, week of June 9 Gulliver’s Travels: Dissecting Satire

Lecture 5: June 16 Wole Soyinka, Death and the King’s Horseman: To Wrench the World Adrift

Discussion 4: Time to be determined, week of June 16 Death and the King’s Horseman: Tragic Form and Performance

Lecture 6: June 23 Christina Rossetti, Goblin Market: The Female “Warrior” and the Domestic Center

Discussion 5: Time to be determined, week of June 23 Christina Rossetti and Charlotte Brontë: Victorian Issues in Female Monstrosity

Lecture 7: June 30 Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea: A Community Transforming from Center to Margin

Discussion 6: Time to be determined, week of June 30 Wide Sargasso Sea: Some Issues of Language

Lecture 8: July 7 James Joyce, from Dubliners (“Araby” and “Eveline”) and Salman Rushdie, from East, West (“Good Advice is Rarer than Rubies” and “The Courter”): The Short Story, Cultural Crossings and Concluding Thoughts

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