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ENGLISH 371 – Topics in World Literature: East/West Intersections Fall, 2014

Magical Realisms MWF 10-10:50 108 Penny Hall

Prof. Anna Oldfield Office: EHFA 204 Phone: 349-6591 Email: aoldfield@coastal.edu Office Hours: MWF 9- 9:50, MW 11-12, and by appointment

Course Description This course extends students’ understanding of and experiences in different cultures of the world by examining issues of cross-cultural interaction and transfer of ideas between and within world cultures, historical periods, and/or literary movements. The course will also introduce students to some strategies of literary criticism and research on world authors through examination of critical texts appropriate to the topic. In particular, this course will sharpen awareness of the various intersections between traditions of the “East” and “West.” This course is writing intensive. Fall 2014 – Magical Realisms A subset of Latin American fiction? A post-colonial literary hybrid? A type of Surrealism or Fantasy? A response to political repression? A genre as old as Gilgamesh? Magic/al Realism is perhaps not a genre, period or style, but a mode of artistic creation in which multiple worlds intersect and collide with paradoxical, carnivalesque, and sometimes terrifying results. In this class we will consider literature and film as we debate our own conceptions of what magical realism might be, explore how it is connected to specific political and historical situations, and respond to the human and metaphysical challenges with which it confronts us. Geographically, we are going to concentrate on Latin America, Europe, Asia (Eastern and Western), and Africa. Readings will include Franz Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortazar, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, , Shahrnush Parsipur, Haruki, Murakami, Mo Yan, and Ben Okri, as well as critical essays. Instructional Objectives 1. Students will have the opportunity to analyze, evaluate and compare cross-cultural literary and non-literary texts (including film, music, and visual arts) both verbally and in writing. 2. Students will have the opportunity to develop and express their ideas on course themes with growing complexity through the semester in response to discussions and written questions. 3. Students will have the opportunity to reflect on how intellectual, ethical, political, and environmental choices impact the world in which we live. 4. Students will have the opportunity to engage in guided research on topics that relate course content to their own interests. Student Learning Outcomes

   

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1. Students will read, discuss, reflect on and write about a cross section of both literary and non-literary texts from a variety of cultural sources. 2. Students will consider the relation of cultural, geographical, and historical contexts to literature. 3. Students will evaluate, analyze and compare texts as they relate to the central questions of the course. 4. Students will refine and expand English writing skills in a series of graded written assignments. 5. Students will practice research and presentation skills.

Writing Intensive Designation - This course will assign a range of writing assignments, and a significant part of the grade will be based on these assignments. 2. You will be given feedback on writing assignments and the opportunity to revise and rewrite specific assignments.

Course Details Texts Books are available a the campus bookstore: Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis (1915, Czech/German) Jorge Luis Borges Ficciones. (1944 Argentina) Julio Cortazar Blow Up and Other Stories. (1967 Argentina) Gabriel Garcia Marquez 100 Years of Solitude (1967 Columbia) Shahrnush Parsipur Women Without Men (1989 Iran) Haruki Murakami The Elephant Vanishes (Japan 1993) Ben Okri Stars of the New Curfew (Nigeria, 1998)

Short Readings I will make the following readings available as PDF on the course website http://engl371ccu.wordpress.com. I also have copies in my office that you can copy. Please print out all the readings and bring the printouts to class on the appropriate day. Nikolai Gogol The Nose (Russia, 1835) Alfonso Reyes “Major Aranda’s Hand” (1955, Mexico) Friedrich Nietzsche “On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense” (1873, Germany) Gabriel Garcia-Marquez “The Solitude of Latin America” (1982 Nobel Lecture) Jorge Luis Borges “On Exactitude in Science” (1946, Argentina) Jean Baudrillard “The Precession of Simulacra (1981, France) Mo Yan “Soaring” “Iron Child” (China, 2012)

Grading

8 Course Short Projects 8 x 8% = 64%

Semester Paper, 1st Draft 10%, 2nd draft 15% = 20%

Final Presentation and website – 11% You are required to attend the final exam, which will be on 12/10/14 at 11:00AM Grading Scale 90-100 =A, 86-89=B+, 80-85 B, 76-79 C+, 70-75 C, 66-69 D+, 60-65 D, 0-59 F

   

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Attendance and Participation Participate willingly in class Come to class prepared, with your book/readings and writing assignments ready You can miss up to 3 classes without penalty, but perfect attendance will earn you a + on participation. If you miss more than 4 classes you will likely become hopelessly confused and that will be punishment enough, but excessive absence will earn you a – in participation. If you miss 9 classes you will receive an F in the course. Short Writing Assignments Short (2-4 page) writing assignments on a specific question. Course Projects These are part group, part individual, part research, part presentation and part writing. They give you a chance to take a unique approach to a specific author or text. Semester Paper One major (8-10 page) paper. The grade includes a proposal and first draft. This paper will be appropriate for the English Major Portfolio. Presentation and website You will give a final presentation and also make a website entry on the course website. Course Policies Late Work Written Assignments are due at midnight on the due date. All late assignments will receive a “C” grade if they are of A, B, or C quality. YOU HAVE 5 DAYS TO HAND IN A LATE ASSIGNMENT. Please keep up with the readings/writings so you don’t experience a negative cascade effect. NOTE – YOU MAY NOT hand in the 1st draft of the semester paper late. Bring what you have written to class, no matter what. Cell Phones Sometimes I will ask you to bring laptops/tablets/phones to use in class. The rest of the time, I will assume that if you are looking at your phone, you are mentally not in the class. You are somewhere far away. A mental absence. I may not say anything, but it will be noted and reflected in your grade. Email I try to answer all emails within 24 hours – If you don’t hear from me, please resend. Weekend email will probably be answered Monday morning. Academic Integrity The Uniiversity expects students to adhere to the Coastal Carolina Student Code of Conduct The CCU Student Code of Conduct (URL: http://www.coastal.edu/conduct/documents/codeofconduct.pdf). Please be advised that even one plagiarism or cheating offence can result in failing the course with an FX. Accommodation This course is committed to accommodating students with disabilities. Students who identify themselves as having disabilities are referred to the Office of Disability Services. This office is responsible for ensuring that reasonable accommodations are provided for students with documented learning, physical, and psychological disabilities. If you have a documented disability, please contact the Office of Disability Services at 843-349-2341.

   

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Proposed Schedule of Readings and Assignments

Day Date Topic/Reading Writing/Other

1 M 8/18 Introduction –

W 8/20 Gogol “The Nose” (pdf)

With all pdfs: Download from website. Print and bring to class (you can pair up on that)

F 8/22 Gogol “The Nose” (+ Alice excerpt)

2 M 8/25 Nietzsche – “On Truth and Lies” (pdf) Surrealism and Dada/ Art

W 8/27 Surrealism and Dada/ Art cont.

F 8/29 Reyes “Major Aranda’s Hand” (pdf)

In class writing

3 M 9/1 LABOR DAY – No Class! Read Metamorphosis

W 9/3 Kafka – Metamorphosis

F 9/5 Kafka – Metamorphosis Kafka Project – bring your laptop/tablet/phone

4 M 9/8 Borges - Ficciones “The Library of Babel” “The Circular Ruins”

Note – The stories are NOT in the order they appear in the book!

W 9/10 Borges “The Garden of Forking Paths” “The Lottery in Babylon”

F 9/12 Borges - “Funes the Memorius”

   

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5 M 9/15 Borges “Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertis”

W 9/17 Borges Project Borges Project

F 9/19 Cortazar Blow Up “A Continuity of Parks” “Axolotl”

6 M 9/22 Cortazar Blow Up “The Distances” “The Night Face Up”

W 9/24 Cortazar Blow Up “Blow up”

F 9/26 Cortazar Blow Up “House Taken Over” “Bestiary”

Cortazar Project

7 M 9/29 Introduction to 100 Years of Solitude Pages 1-12

W 10/1 100 Years of Solitude 1-36 - chapter end’s with “search for the great invention”

F 10/3 100 Years 37-78 chapter ends with “to protect him from the sun and rain”

8 M 10/6 79 – 140 “so the funeral procession could pass by.

Possible Reading Day

W 10/8 141-180 “found dead under her window”

100 Years Project 1

F 10/10 Student Holiday! No class! 181-222 “so many changes, calamities, and feelings of nostalgia to Macondo”

   

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9 M 10/13 223-291”ostracized as a chicken thief”

W 10/15 293-332 “embroidered with gold thread and silk tassels on the episcopal bed”

F 10/17 332-354 “buried them in the wrong graves”

10 M 10/20 100 Years of Solitude 355-416 THE END

W 10/22 100 Years Project 2

F 10/24 Jorge Luis Borges “On Exactitude in Science” (pdf) Jean Baudrillard “The Precession of Simulacra (pdf)

11 M 10/27 Hallucinatory Realism – Parsipur Murakami, Okri, Yan Sharinush Parsipur Women without Men

W 10/29 Sharinush Parsipur Women without Men

F 10/31 Sharinush Parsipur Women without Men

12 M 11/3 Murakami “TV People”

W 11/5 Murakami “The Elephant Vanishes”

F 11/7 “The Little Green Monster” “Sleep” “The Second Bakery Attack”

Project

13 M 11/10 Ben Okri “In the Shadow of War” “Worlds that Flourish”

   

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W 11/12 Okri - “Stars of the New Curfew”

F 11/14

14 M 11/17 Paper workshop 1st DRAFT OF PAPER DUE IN CLASS. NO LATE DRAFTS.

W 11/19 Mo Yan “Soaring” “Iron Child” Project

F 11/21

11/24-28

Thanksgiving break November 24-28 (23-1)

15 M 12/1 Presentations

W 12/3 Presentations

W 12/10 FINAL EXAM MEETING

Revised Final Paper Presentations