Summer 2019 - WL 104W D100

Modern World Literatures (3)

Class Number: 3080

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    May 6 – Aug 2, 2019: Thu, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Introduces ways of comparing modern world literatures across time and space. May explore topics such as revolution, technology, or existentialism. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.

COURSE DETAILS:

 

MODERNITY’S MIRROR : SELF, SOCIETY, AND THE CRISIS OF THE MODERN

 During the global upheavals of the early 20th century, the way in which human identity was understood and depicted was upended along with traditional notions of human consciousness.  Looking back at this era of turbulent historical, technological, & cultural change, this interdisciplinary course explores how literature and art helped to develop new concepts of self & society.

In order to understand what had changed, we begin with the “theatrical” dream life of that tormented outsider, Hamlet.  By following his story through film & literature, we learn to see how solitude becomes a force for change in modernity.  Pursued by the spectre of Hamlet’s self-interrogating presence, we turn to Strindberg’s play on the fault lines of class, feminism, & the individual (Miss Julie 1888), Hamsun’s narrative of love and natural beauty in the Norwegian Northlands (Pan 1894), and Mulk Raj Anand’s portrait of an outcaste youth in pre-independence India (Untouchable 1935).  In order to deepen our comprehension of how the “image” of the individual carries ethical weight, we will also screen Satyajit Ray’s classic film Pather Panchali, a famous 1930s Shanghai feature, The Goddess (神女), and a recent staging of “Miss Julie.”  

nb    This is an SFU writing course: skills learned throughout the term will help students with written work in all faculties.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES                       

Introductory understanding of World Literature as a field practice                                                          
Basic comprehension of terms and concepts of literary criticism and the modernist era                                             
Starting ability to analyze aesthetic forms across different cultural eras & media                                                           
Improved university writing ability with focus on cultural criticism

Grading

  • Short Essay + Revision 10 + 15%
  • Term Paper + Revision 20 + 15%
  • Short Presentation 5%
  • Participation 10%
  • Mid Term Exam 25%
  • NO FINAL EXAM

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Shakespeare. Hamlet. Oxford.   
ISBN: 978-0199535811

August Strindberg. Miss Julie & Other Plays. Oxford.
ISBN: 978-0199538041

Mulk Raj Anand. Untouchable. Penguin Classic.
ISBN: 978-0141393605

Jean Rhys.  Voyage in the Dark    Penguin Classic
ISBN: 978-0141183954

[ AVAILABLE AT SFU BOOKSTORE ]

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