Fall 2019 - WL 100 D100
What is World Literature? (3)
Class Number: 1341
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
Fr 12:30 PM – 2:20 PM
WMC 3220, Burnaby -
Exam Times + Location:
Dec 13, 2019
8:30 AM – 11:30 AM
AQ 3003, Burnaby
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
Explores how texts travel beyond their cultures of origin, influence other cultural contexts and ideas, and become works of world literature. Introduces the concepts of cross-cultural literary criticism and translation. Breadth-Humanities.
COURSE DETAILS:
FICTION has long investigated what it is to move from place to place along with one’s social & political settings, but what of the movement of our feelings? Beginning from Euripides classic dramatization of the threatening boundaries between public virtues & private passions, we learn to see how the problem of the self in WORLD LITERATURE acquires new metaphors as it travels from place to place. Following our introduction to the ethics of the body, we explore Oyono’s 20th Century novella of race & hypocrisy in Africa; Eileen Chang’s Hong Kong stories; Marguerite Duras’s exploration of love across racial lines; &, lastly, we view the “Summer 1966” segment of the Italian film La meglio gioventù (The Best of Youth). Each of our short texts and film segments contemplate how cultural & personal outlooks change when they are forced into the open; and each explores the same question: if ‘language is the main instrument of man’s refusal to accept the world as it is,’ how might crossing boundaries be a way of rebelling against difference?
COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:
- Introductory understanding of World Literature as a field practice
- Basic comprehension of terms and concepts of literary criticism
- Ability to cognize and compare literary texts as social discourses
- Ability to undertake comparisons across different cultural media
Grading
- Short Paper 15%
- Presentation 15%
- Participation 15%
- Term Paper 25%
- Final Exam 30%
Materials
MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:
FILM [PROVIDED] La meglio gioventù ITALY 2003 (The Best of Youth)
REQUIRED READING:
Hippolytus, Euripides ( trans. R. Bagg ). Oxford.
ISBN: 978-0195072907
Houseboy, Ferdinand Oyono. Waveland.
ISBN: 978-1577669883
Love in a Fallen City, Zhang Ailing / Eileen Chang. NYRB.
ISBN: 978-1590171783
The Lover, Marguerite Duras. Pantheon.
ISBN: 978-0375700521
Registrar Notes:
SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/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