Ateneo - UPO

Introduction to colonial/postcolonial literatures in English and North-American literature through a wide formal and thematic spectrum of short stories. Each class will be partly a lecture introducing a given writer in the context of his/her social and historical background, and partly a close reading and discussion of the texts assigned for each class. Students will also be introduced to terms and concepts for literary analysis, paying special attention to the formal elements of a given short story: structure, narration, characterization, point of view, voice.

Dean Baldwin and Patrick J. Quinn, An Anthology of Postcolonial Short Fiction, Cengage Learning 2007; B. Ashcroft, G. Griffiths, H. Tiffin, The Empire Writes Back, 2nd ed. Routledge 2002; P. Poplawski, English Literature in Context, second edition, CUP 2017; John McLeod, Beginning Postcolonialism, Manchester UP, 2010; Cristina Iuli, Paola Loreto, La letteratura degli Stati Uniti dal Rinascimento Americano ai nostri giorni, Roma, Carocci 2017.

To provide an introductory overview of the themes and languages of world literatures in English and of the history of North-American Literature through the reading and analysis of a selection of short stories from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. To provide a basic proper set of working tools for the literary analysis of short stories.

No specific requirement. Cultural and linguistic competence in L1 as certified by high school diploma. English level A1-A2

Lectures and in-class readings of primary texts

Program for non attending students does not vary.
This class has been conceived to meet goals 4,5, 16 of the Unesco 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda: Quality Education; Gender Equality; Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Students' performance will be assessed through written tests.
Each module contributes 50% towards final grade

World literatures in English:
Week 1: Introduction: Situating the colonial and postcolonial in space, time, theory
Week 2-3: The Nineteenth Century and Imperial Responses
Kipling, “The Man Who Would Be King”
Lessing, “Old Chief Mshlanga”
Week 4-5: The Colonial Response
Mansfield, “How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped”
Rhys, “The Day They Burnt the Books”
O’Connor, “Guests of the Nation”
Week 6-7: Immigrants and the Diaspora
Divakaruni, “Clothes”
Rushdie, “The Courter”
Week 7-8: The Colonial Legacy at Home
Achebe, “Girls at War”
Gordimer, “Amnesty”
North-American Literature:
Introduction; The Geopolitical History of the United States; Critical Terms for Reading Short Stories;
"The 1619 Project" – The New York Times (2019)
Short Stories:
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Black Cat " (1845)
Week Two: Nathanael Hawthorne, “The Minister’s Black Veil” (1836)
Week Three: Benito Cereno (1855)
Week Four: Mark Twain, “A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It” (1874); Kate Chopin, “Desirée’s Baby” (1894); Stephen Crane, "The Monster";
Week Five: William Faulkner “Dry September” (1931)
Week Seven: Zora Neale Hurston, “The Gilded Six Bits” (1933);
Week Eight: Flannery O’ Connor “The Artificial Nigger” (1955)
Week Nine: James Baldwin, “Going to Meet the Man” (1965)
Week Ten: June Jordan, "Dry Victories" (1972); Percival Everett, "The Appropriation of Culture" (2004).

(KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING)
- Knowledge of the main features of postcolonial literatures in English and of XIX and XX c. American Literature
- Knowledge of basic, yet appropriate concepts and language for the literary analysis of the short story as a literary genre
(APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING)
- ability to read, interpret, and assess literary works belonging to the Anglo-American tradition.
- ability to grasp and understand the connections between texts and contexts (historical, geographical, political), using the critical and methodological tools appropriate to the analysis of the texts considered.
- ability to use the appropriate lexicon in English to communicate - clearly and effectively - knowledge, information and opinions related to the topics dealt with and to discuss, argue and refute theses and questions posed by literary works.