Summer 2023 - WL 104W D100
Modern World Literatures (3)
Class Number: 4319
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
Th 2:30 PM – 4:20 PM
RCB 6125, Burnaby
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Instructor:
Mark Deggan
mdeggan@sfu.ca
1 778 782-9595
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
The global upheavals of the early 20th century upended the ways in which human nature was understood. In that larger era of turbulent historical, technological, and cultural transformation, literature and art came to reflect new notions of human value and identity; and yet as our first text suggests, the “modernist” revolution in human nature was not entirely new – not least where Hamlet suggests how individual consciousness can appear as a force for change in modernity.
Pursued by that prince’s self-interrogating presence, and with reference to the visual arts, we move on to Strindberg’s play on the fault lines of class, feminism, and the individual (Miss Julie 1888), Mu Shiying’s stream-of-consciousness Chinese short stories (1938) and Zhang Ailing’s mid-century Hong Kong fictions (Eileen Chang 1944), as well as Mulk Raj Anand’s novel concerning 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 also watch the famous 1957 Eastern European film, The Cranes are Flying, alongside cinematic excerpts from our course plays.
Grading
- Short Essay 15%
- Short Essay (Revision) 15%
- Term Paper 20%
- Term Paper (Revision) 15%
- Midterm Exam 20%
- Participation 15%
Materials
MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:
TEXTS:
Shakespeare Hamlet ONLINE — provided
August Strindberg Miss Julie & Other Plays Oxford 978-0199538041
Mu Shiying Mu Shiying: China’s Lost Modernist Hong Kong U 978-9888208142
Eileen Chang Love in a Fallen City NYRB 978-1590171783
Mulk Raj Anand Untouchable Penguin Classic 978-0141393605
FILM: The Cranes are Flying / Летят журавли (1957 film – provided)
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