Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2023 - WL 403 D100

Contemporary World Literature (4)

Class Number: 7441

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 4 – Apr 11, 2023: Fri, 12:30–4:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Apr 13, 2023
    Thu, 12:00–12:00 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    60 units including two 300-level courses in world literature, English, and/or humanities.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Explores literary texts and movements emerging since the second half of the twentieth century. May focus on responses to modernism, hybrid genres, digital media or contemporary themes.

COURSE DETAILS:

What is power, where is it rooted, and how is it maintained and perpetuated? A possible answer comes to us from Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben, who stated that “in modern bio-politics, sovereign is he who decides on the value or non-value of life as-such”. In this course, we will analyze literary texts in which the concepts of Power and Sovereignty form a powerful network of meaning: held in the palace of the Sultan (The Palace of Dreams), secured in a totalitarian state (Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea), dispersed after a civil war (Girl at war), or contested between law and criminality (The Cook of the Halcyon). The relationship between Power and Life will be examined with particular attention to that time lapse defined as State of Exception, a situation in which people are often stripped of political rights and Authority seems to rise above any other rule.

 

 

 

 

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

  • Broaden their knowledge of the specific sociocultural and political contexts described in the texts.
  • Apply theoretical concepts to literary texts.
  • Sharpen their critical thinking skills, especially through the lens of biopolitics

Grading

  • Attendance and Participation 15%
  • Oral report and Written 15%
  • Midterm 20%
  • Reading Responses 15%
  • Final Exam 35%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Ismail Kadare. The Palace of Dreams (1981).
ISBN: 978-1628723236

Guy Delisle. Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea (2007).
ISBN: 978-1897299210

Sara Nović (2016). Girl at war.
ISBN: 978-0812986396

Andrea Camilleri (2019). The Cook of the Halcyon.
ISBN: 978-0143136187

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website 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