Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2024 - WL 303 D100

Global Culture and Its Discontents (4)

Class Number: 6917

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 4 – Dec 3, 2024: Wed, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Dec 13, 2024
    Fri, 12:00–3:00 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Explores the tendencies of globalization in the cultural realm, which while sparking cross-border communication, also tends to flatten identities into a coercive global norm. Focuses on writing in contexts of political oppression, digital communities, censorship, cultural displacement, terrorism and/or warfare. Breadth-Humanities.

COURSE DETAILS:

In this course, we will examine how food –its production, preparation, and consumption– is utilized in works of fiction to highlight drastic cultural displacement and personal discontent, as well as to hold a mirror up to a globalized world where distinct cultural identities run the risk of collapsing into an anonymous, unstable entity. Among others, we will study the following themes relating to the postmodern subject’s complex relationship with food: body image and eating disorders as articulated in Margaret Atwood’s The Edible Woman; cultural displacement and its ties to national/regional food in Antonio Tabucchi’s Requiem: A Hallucination; the inextricable link between food and memory in Laia Jufresa’s Umami, as well as the moral dimensions of eating an “ethical” diet as expounded by J. M. Coetzee in The Lives of Animals.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

  • Understand how anxieties surrounding the preparation and consumption of food in our globalizing world are articulated in works of fiction from diverse cultures
  • Gain an understanding of the relationship between Literature and Food Studies
  • Have an awareness of the ways cultural displacement, personal discontent and moral decisions are presented through the postcolonial subject’s fascinatingly complex relationship with food

Grading

  • Attendance and Participation 10%
  • Oral Report 20%
  • Midterm (in-person; written in ink) 15%
  • Final Research Paper (10 pages) 25%
  • Final Exam (in-person; written in ink) 30%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Margaret Atwood, The Edible Woman.   ISBN-10: 0771008848

J. M. Coetzee, The Lives of Animals.  ISBN-10:‎0691173907

Laia Jufresa, Umami.  ISBN-10:1780748922

Antonio Tabucchi, Requiem: A Hallucination.  ISBN-10‏: ‎0811215172


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

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.