Literature of Colonialism, Past and Post
English 306
Meegan Kennedy
This course was taught at Trinity College, Spring 2002
This course will examine the effect of British colonialism on the novel, and vice versa. We will focus on three geographical/historical/political nodes: the Anglophone Caribbean; India and the creation of Pakistan; and West Africa and the Congo. We will read colonialist texts (novels, journals, travel narratives) written from the 17th through 19th centuries by writers from the metropole (Great Britain); and postcolonial texts (novels, essays, literary and cultural criticism) written in the 20th century by postcolonial writers. We will attempt to read colonial and postcolonial fiction by the light of a historical and critical context. The reading load may be heavy but it will be rewarding, and I have balanced “heavy” reading with lighter, shorter texts. (I may drop a novel if we get bogged down). This class will take you to more and different places in one semester than you've ever been before, all engaged in some way with the powerful reach of the British empire. Hang on to your hat!
Bill Ashcroft, Post-Colonial Studies Reader (Routledge)
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (Norton, 2d edn)
Aimé Césaire, Discourse on Colonialism (NYU Press)
Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place (Farrar Straus & Giroux)
Aphra Behn, Oroonoko (Bedford)
Henry Stanley, Through the Dark Continent (Dover;
recommended)
Mary Kingsley, Travels in West Africa (Phoenix;
recommended)
H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines (Oxford)
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (Prentice Hall)
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (Norton)
Rudyard Kipling, Kim (Norton)
E.M. Forster, Passage to India (Harvest)
Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children (Penguin)
Bapsi Sidhwa, Cracking India (Milkweed)
V. S. Naipaul, A Bend in the River (Vintage)
Used copies of these texts would be fine but I recommend finding the same edition, especially for the Nortons.
PCS = Post-Colonial Studies Reader (ed. Ashcroft):
essays TBA
S = supplementary packet available through the English Department
January
Tues 1/15 Introduction
Thurs 1/17 The Caribbean
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
Benedict Anderson, “Cultural
Roots” (S)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tues 1/22
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
Thurs 1/24
Sir Hans Sloane, from Voyage to the
Islands: meet at Watkinson Library
Matthew Lewis, from Journal of a West
India Proprietor (S)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tues 1/29
Aimé Césaire, Discourse on Colonialism (NYU Press)
Thurs 1/31
Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place
Edouard Glissant, from Caribbean
Discourse (S)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
February
Tues 2/5 PAPER 1 DUE
Derek Walcott, Pantomime (S)
Thurs 2/7 Congo/Africa
Aphra Behn, Oroonoko
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tues 2/12
Aphra Behn, Oroonoko
Thurs 2/14
Henry Stanley, Through the Dark Continent
(presentation)
Mary Kingsley, Travels in West Africa (presentation)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tues 2/19 NO CLASS - Trinity Days
Thurs 2/21
H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tues 2/26
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (Norton)
Thurs 2/28
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (Norton)
March
Tues 3/5 (Mid-term)
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
Thurs 3/7 PAPER 2 DUE
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tues 3/12 India/Pakistan
Rudyard Kipling, Kim
Thurs 3/14
Rudyard Kipling, Kim
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tues 3/19 NO CLASS, Spring Vacation
Thurs 3/21 NO CLASS, Spring Vacation
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tues 3/26
E.M. Forster, Passage to India
Thurs 3/28
E.M. Forster, Passage to India
Lytton Strachey, “General
Gordon” (S)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
April
Tues 4/2
Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children
Thurs 4/4
Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tues 4/9
Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children
Sara Suleri, from The Rhetoric of English India (S)
Thurs 4/11
Bapsi Sidhwa, Cracking India
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tues 4/16
Bapsi Sidhwa, Cracking India
Thurs 4/18
V. S. Naipaul, A Bend in the River
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tues 4/23 PAPER 3 DUE (Last class)
V. S. Naipaul, A Bend in the River
Grading Policy:
Participation:
Mandatory. Discussion is an important
part of this class and of your learning experience. Please come
to class prepared and ready to talk.
Attendance:
Mandatory. More than 10 minutes late counts
as an absence. Three or more absences may be grounds for lowering
your grade.
Presentations:
Each of you will give two in-class
presentations. One presentation (in “groups” of up to
two people) will discuss the historical and cultural background
of the geographical area of study, and will generally occur in
the first week of that segment of the course. The other will
occur during the Africa segment of the course, in which half of
the class will present (jointly) on Stanley, and half on
Kingsley. On presentation days, you should also come with a list
of questions for discussion and take a leadership role in
discussion.
Writing:
Three papers (6-8 pp each), one from each geographical segment of the course, reflecting a thoughtful engagement with the literature, history, and criticism we've read. Additional research is welcome if appropriate to your topic. If you need an extension (up to one week), you must request it in writing one week in advance. Include your name, phone number, and the new due date. Get my signature, then attach it to your paper when you hand it in. Late papers without extensions are penalized. You may rewrite any of your major papers if you hand it in within a week of having received my grade and comments. The final grade overwrites the previous grade entirely; I do not guarantee a better grade.
Weekly “Three Threads and a Thesis” (3T&T). Please post to the Discussion Board (on the course website) by classtime each Tuesday (by midnight), and bring a clean hard copy to class for me. Consider these a preface to class discussion and a chance to practice building an argument on a brief, informal level. 3T&Ts will not be accepted late. They cannot be made up except in case of illness. They will be graded for clarity; evidence of close, careful reading; and thoughtfulness, on a scale of check, plus for excellent work, or zero (not completed). You may be asked to read your threads or thesis to help situate class discussion.
Grading:
10% participation (discussion, attendance, pop quizzes)
10% 3T&Ts
20% presentations
20% paper 1
20% paper 2
20% paper 3