82047 - English Culture and Literature

Learning outcomes

The student - knows the core features (contents, methods and instruments) necessary for the in-depth analysis of English culture and literature - is able to apply this knowledge when tackling a range of semiotically challenging texts - is able to acquire higher-level cultural and literary knowledge and competences independently, and to apply them to a wide range of novel texts

Course contents

The theme of the course is "Travel Narratives: Migrations, Diasporas and Borders." Its main focus is Anglophone literature dealing with stories of displacement, cultural relocation, and identity negotiation on the move.

Migration has been a powerful stimulant to literary expressions of identity in motion and the re-definition of the self that new homelands require. Through a close reading of contemporary short stories and novels in English, the course offers critical spaces for thinking about the discordant movements of modernity and the massive migrations that have defined the XX and XXI centuries. By analyzing a series of travel narratives--which represent hybrid characters using different means of transport and coping with multiple types of border crossings--we will examine the subjective, psychological, and social dimensions of diaspora and other modern forms of geographical displacement and dislocation. Drawing on the interdisciplinary fields of postcolonial studies and migration/diaspora studies, we will evaluate the risks and gains of such deterritorializations not only in practical terms but on fissures of identity like race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality.

Readings/Bibliography

A detailed syllabus with the schedule of readings will be provided in class.

The reading list includes the following novels and short stories:

- Ladies' Coupé [some passages] (Anita Nair)

- "The View from Castle Rock" (Alice Munro)

- "Imitation" and "The Thing Around Your Neck" (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)

- "Disturbing Words," "The Park," and "Dear You" (Evelyn Conlon)

- "Mrs. Sen's" and "The Third and Final Continent" (Jhumpa Lahiri)

- Borderland/La Frontera [some passages] (Gloria Anzaldúa)

- Lucy (Jamaica Kincaid)

- The Pickup [some passages] (Nadine Gordimer)

- The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)

Teaching methods

Attendance and participation are highly encouraged. Some initial lectures will be followed by class discussion. Students are required to read the assigned readings before class.

All students are required to enroll in the course on the e-learning page.

Assessment methods

The final exam will be written. Specifics as well as a sample copy of the written exam will be supplied in class and published on the e-learning page for the course (50%).

Students will also have to hand in a short essay (6/8-page response paper) before taking the written exam (50%). Due dates and further explanations will be given during the course.

Teaching tools

Material available on the e-learning page.

Office hours

See the website of Sofia Cavalcanti