Fall 2017 - ENGL 392 D100

Studies in World Literatures in English (4)

Indigenous Literatures

Class Number: 3900

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 5 – Dec 4, 2017: Wed, 9:30 a.m.–1:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    Two 100 division English courses, and two 200 division English courses.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The study of a selection of literary works in English, mainly from regions other than Canada, Britain and the United States. The course may focus on one or several literatures. The course may be repeated for credit if a different topic is taught, though students who obtained credit for English 392 prior to Summer 2015 may not take this course for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course considers the group of interrelated novels known as the tetralogy or quartet, with reference to form, structure, discontinuity, narrativity, diegesis, and mimesis. Novelist Martin Boyd (1893-1972) was born in Switzerland into an Australian family of artists, notably painter Arthur Boyd, of aristocratic lineage, and lived and wrote in Australia, from 1951 in England, and from 1958 in Italy. Comprising the novels The Cardboard Crown (1952), A Difficult Young Man (1955), Outbreak of Love (1957), and When Blackbirds Sing (1962), the “Langton Tetralogy” is a social satire that chronicles the fictional Langton family over a period of eighty years; narrated by Guy Langton, it focuses on his grandmother Alice, Aunt Diana, and brother Dominic and on the post-1914 deterioration of the aristocracy and rise of the middle class.  Novelist Wilson Harris (1921- ) was born in British Guiana, now the Caribbean nation of Guyana, and since 1959 has lived and written in England. His “Guyana Quartet,” comprising The Palace of the Peacock (1960), The Far Journey of Oudin (1961), The Whole Armour (1962), and The Secret Ladder (1963), is experimental in form and distinguished by poetic evocations of Guyanese and Indigenous myth, history, imaginaries, simulacrums, and ecological surrounds. Although they are contemporaneous, these two quartets are antipodal in their visions of space, time, and reality.

Grading

  • Essay on the “Langton Tetralogy” (1500-2000 words) 40%
  • Essay on the “Guyana Quartet” (1500-2000 words) 40%
  • Participation 20%

NOTES:

PRE-READING STRONGLY RECOMMENDED. 

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Martin Boyd, The Cardboard Crown (Text Classics)


ISBN: 9781922079411

Martin Boyd, A Difficult Young Man (Text Classics)


ISBN: 9781921922121

Martin Boyd, Outbreak of Love (Text Classics)


ISBN: 9781922147073

Martin Boyd, When Blackbirds Sing (Text Classics)


ISBN: 9781922147998

Wilson Harris, The Guyana Quartet (Faber)


ISBN: 9780571259663

Department Undergraduate Notes:

IMPORTANT NOTE Re 300 and 400 level courses: 75% of spaces in 300 level English courses, and 100% of spaces in 400 level English courses, are reserved for declared English Major, Minor, Extended Minor, Joint Major, and Honours students only, until open enrollment begins.

For all On-Campus Courses, please note the following:
- To receive credit for the course, students must complete all requirements.
- Tutorials/Seminars WILL be held the first week of classes.
- When choosing your schedule, remember to check "Show lab/tutorial sections" to see all Lecture/Seminar/Tutorial times required.

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS