Resources for Final Exam:
What is Postcolonialism?: HERE
Heart of Darkness (Summary): HERE
Heart of Darkness, Additional Resources: HERE
Achebe, “An Image of Africa,” HERE
Frantz Fanon, “ Black Skin White Masks,”: HERE
—. “From Wretched of the Earth”: HERE
Chinweizu, “Decolonizing the . . .” : HERE
Ngugi wa Thiong’O: “Creating space . . .”: HERE
Kipling. ‘The White Man’s Burden.”” HERE
Mahmoud Darwish: “Identity Card.” HERE
Mukherjee, Narayan, and Naipaul: HERE
Mahfouz, Rifaat, Darwish: HERE
Weekly Livestream Links:
Tuesday, October 6, 2020 (11:00 12:10): FOLLOW THIS LINK!
Saturday, October 10 (1:00 pm-2:10 pm): The Class will meet Via Zoom. Please join us through your UNT CANVAS Page.
Texts and Discussion for the Current Week
Mukherjee, “A Wife’s Story,” (306); Narayan, “A Horse and Two Goats,” (143), Naipaul, “Our Universal Civilization,” (304).
Livestream Archive
Resources and Readings for Next Week:
Read:
Marquez, “ A Very Old Man . . .” (174), Fuentes, “The Prisoner of . . .” (178).
Time: Live ONLINE Class Sessions:
Section 001: Tuesdays 11:00 am to 12:10 pm.
Alternate Time (For those who cannot attend at the above time): Saturdays 1:00 PM to 2:10 PM
Office Hours: TR 11:00-1:00 and by appointment
Office: AUD 106
COVID 19 Remote Learning General Instructions:
- Despite the online organization of this course, I hope to make this into a great learning experience for you. Other than the detailed syllabus below, we will follow the process
explained below: - The classes will meet on the appointed time online. Every week, I will create a link to the online session and post in the Detailed Syllabus section as well as on the Canvas page for the course. At the appointed time, you will only need to click on the link and join the class session.
- Before the class you will have access to my pre-recorded lectures. I will post the links to these also in the detailed section of the syllabus as well as on canvas.
- You will be able to pick up the class reader from the main English office (AUDB 112) during the first week of the class.
- I will also be available to meet you through Canvas. Just request a meeting through email.
- At any time if you have any concerns about the course, please let me know.
Online Resources:
Recorded Videos on “Heart of Darkness.” HERE
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Introduction
This course introduces you to some of the major world/postcolonial authors. The postcolonial cultural production can be roughly divided into three overlapping phases: the works produced during the contact phase, the native responses to colonialism, and the postcolonial cultural production both from the global periphery and the diasporic authors. Postcolonialism is a dynamic, expansive, and contested field of literary study involving a high degree of multidisciplinarity and theoretical innovation. This course will also introduce you to the early and current debates of the field and possibilities of the field in the future. We will pay special attention to the current state of high capital and neoliberal globalization and the artistic and critical responses being offered in resistance. We will read these texts of the global periphery not simply as crystallized versions of the cultures that they attempt to represent, but also use them as points of departure into a study of the larger power structures within which these texts are produced. In doing so we will also question our own place and privileged location within the academy and imagine the possibilities of making our work commensurate with the acts of semiotic and material resistance being offered to the reigning power structures by the cultures of the global south in the spirit of what Gramsci describes as the organic intellectuals. Using printed texts and film, this course will introduce you to the current global negotiation of power, the articulation of native resistance to the imperatives of globalization, and the native attempts at achieving social justice. In doing so we will also touch upon the role of the nation-state within the current climate of neoliberal globalization and the global war on terror, the politics of the diasporic cultural production, and the possibilities of rhizomatic global popular alliances.
Required Texts:
Class Reader (To be provided by the Instructor)
Occasional handouts/Course Reserves. [HO/RES]
Course Policies and Requirements:
Students are expected to be prepared for class: This involves reading the assigned texts, and contributing their views in a collegiate and stimulating way. Attendance to online live sessions is mandatory.
Distribution of Points:
Response Journals 100 Points
Mid-Term Exam 400 Points
Participation 100 Points
Final Exam 400 Points
Total 1000 Points
Response Journals (100 Points):
Every week you will turn in a journal (through Canvas) responding to the readings assigned for the week. The journal should be minimum two pages, double-spaced, font 12 Times. Following are some, but not all, questions you may consider:
What does the text say about gender, race, ethnicity, class, nation, or power and what are your views about it?
Did you agree or disagree with the text’s politics? why?
What is the text critiquing?
How can we relate this text to contemporary realities?
Does this text raise the question of justice? If so, how and for whom? • Does the text provide a politics for a better future?
How does the form compare to the metropolitan techniques of creative production? (For creative writing majors)
Mid-Term Exam (400 Points)
The Mid-term will be given in the eighth week. The exam will include four essay questions. I will give you a comprehensive study guide a week before the exam.
Final Exam (400 Points)
A cumulative final exam will be due on the date mentioned in the UNT exams program. I will give you the questions a week in advance and the take-home exam answers will be due through Canvas portal on the due date.
Class Participation (100 Points)
As this is a discussion format class, your thoughtful participation in online classes is essential to the success of the class. I encourage collegiate, open, and thought-provoking questions.
Attendance
You are expected to attend the online class sessions regularly. You will be in the danger of failing the course if you miss more than FOUR class sessions.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is against the law, and will result in automatic failure in the course. Simply stated, plagiarism is when you try to pass anyone else’s work as your own or if you turn in your own work written for another class.
Please review UNT POlicy on Academic Integrity for details.
ADA
If you have a disability, please contact the campus ADA office and bring me the necessary documentation. I will try my best to accommodate you if you need any special instruction or assistance.
SENATE BILL 11 (“CAMPUS CARRY”). Students must read UNT’s policy on concealed handguns on campus, which I’ve posted on Blackboard (or see http://campuscarry.unt.edu/untpolicy.) Here I note that 1) only licensed persons may legally carry handguns on campus, and 2) this right only authorizes the licensed carrying of “handgun[s], the presence of which is not openly noticeable to the ordinary observation of a reasonable person.” Per policy, if a gun is “partially or wholly visible, even if holstered,” it’s not legal on campus, whether or not it’s licensed. I report all illegal activities to the UNT police, regardless of their nature.
“ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATIONS.” All students should be aware of UNT’s guidelines for responding to “active shooter situations” (seehttp://emergency.unt.edu/get-prepared/Active-Shooter).
Grading Scale:
A 900-1000
B 830-899
C 739-829
F Less than 600 Points
Weekly Schedule
Note: This is a tentative schedule. I may change this schedule during the semester. You will be informed of the changes well in advance, but it will be your responsibility to keep any such changes in mind while preparing for the class.
The assigned readings are for the whole week. Generally, we will discuss the assigned readings, spread over the week, in the order in which they are listed below. YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ THE ASSIGNED TEXTS OVER THE WEEK-END.
Week One
Introduction to the course.
In-Class diagnostic Journal
New Terms: Center/periphery, Colonialism, Imperialism, Third World
Readings:
“Introduction” 1-34
“In the World.” (97-99). Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden.” (100).
Readings:
Conrad. “Heart of Darkness (Watch my Recorded lectures HERE)
Week Two and Three
New Terms: Binarism, Othering, Going native
Class Discussion: Conrad. “Heart of Darkness
Readings:
Achebe, “An Image of Africa,” (101), Frantz Fanon, “ Black Skin White Masks,” (138) “From Wretched of the Earth” (107).
Week Four
Class Discussion: Achebe, “An Image of Africa,” (101), Frantz Fanon, “ Black Skin White Masks,” (138) “From Wretched of the Earth” (107).New Terms: Diaspora, Discourse
Readings:New Terms: Hybridity, Hegemony, Dominance
Readings:
Aime Cesaire, “A Tempest,” (111), Chinweizu, “Decolonizing the . . .” (114), Ngugi “Creating space . . .” (117-121)
Week Five
Class Discussion:Aime Cesaire, “A Tempest,” (111), Chinweizu, “Decolonizing the . . .” (114), Ngugi “Creating space . . .” (117-121)
New Terms: Native, Nativism
New Terms: Authenticity, Social Darwinism
Readings:
P’bitek (167), Head, “The Deep River,” (286)
Week Six
Class Discussion: P’bitek, Head.
New Terms: Subaltern, Appropriation, Abrogation
Readings:
Mahfouz, “Zaabalawi,” (803), Rifaat, “My World of the Unknown,” (247), Darwish, “Identity Card (136)
Week Seven
Class Discussion: Mahfouz, Rifaat, Darwish
New Terms: Agency, Mimicry
Readings:
Mukherjee, “A Wife’s Story,” (306), Hossain, “Sultana’s Dream,” (122).
Week Eight
Class Discussion: Mukherjee, “A Wife’s Story,” (306), Hossain, “Sultana’s Dream,” (122).
Mid Term
Readings:
Narayan, “A Horse and Two Goats,” (143), Naipaul, “Our Universal Civilization,” (304).
Week Nine
Class Discussion: Narayan, “A Horse and Two Goats,” (143), Naipaul, “Our Universal Civilization,” (304).
New Term: Magic Realism
Readings:
Marquez, “ A Very Old Man . . .” (174), Fuentes, “The Prisoner of . . .” (178).
Week Ten
Class Discussion: Marquez, Fuentes.
New Terms: Neoimperialism, Militarization, Corporatization.
Readings: Rushdie “The Courter” (289), Desai “The Farewewll Part” (278), Cisnerros “Never Marry a Mexican” (312)
Week Eleven
Class discussion: Rushdie “The Courter” (289), Desai “The Farewewll Part” (278), Cisnerros “Never Marry a Mexican” (312)
Readings: Lu Xun “The Sory of . . .” (126), Tanazaki “Aguri” (129)
Week Twelve
Class discussion: Lu Xun “The Story of . . .” (126), Tanazaki “Aguri” (129)
Readings:
Wole Soyinka “The Lion and the Jewel” (252).
Week Thirteen
Class discussion: Wole Soyinka “The Lion and the Jewel” (252).
Reading: Achebe “Things Fall Apart.”
Week Fourteen-Sixteen
Class Discussion: Achebe “Things Fall Apart.”
