Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2025 - WL 306 D100

Transnational Literary Rebellions (4)

Class Number: 6872

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Tue, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Dec 8, 2025
    Mon, 8:30–11:30 a.m.
    Burnaby

  • Instructor:

    Mark Deggan
    mdeggan@sfu.ca
    1 778 782-9595
    Office: AQ 5119

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Investigates cross-cultural literary movements that challenge the status quo. Focal points might include romanticism, modernism, existentialism, or other cultural and political tendencies, with attention to how such styles or movements gain impetus in new national/regional settings. This course may be repeated for credit when different topics are offered. Breadth-Humanities.

COURSE DETAILS:

MODERNISM’S GLOBAL INSURRECTION
INTERIORITY & RESISTANCE in 20TH CENTURY WORLD LITERATURE
Modernism has been seen as a rebellion against 19th Century claims to global empire, instrumental reason, and social streamlining.  The term is also used to describe the era in which the contents of art and thought reach their dead-end – no longer fulfilling the imagination’s promise of belonging to a meaningful world.  In this period of rapid modernization and change, literary modernism offered writers a new means of addressing ideological confrontation and colonial apprehension.  The contestation between world cultures frames our course theme: what happens when individuals and nations are met with the destabilizing energies of different artistic, social, and national environments?  With increasing focus upon non-European peoples and competing modes of artistic expression, our course texts move from Western avant-garde works to the equally asymmetrical societal systems at work in other parts of the world.  Class fictions and films contemplate interwar cosmopolitanism, racial transgressions, and the position of women in a changing social order. Moving between exoticist, “social realist,” and stream-of-consciousness texts and films, students come to comprehend the full scope of modernist literature’s exploration of inner experience in the face of traditional modes of expression and control.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

  • Comprehension of Modernism as a global phenomenon.
  • Historical and aesthetic awareness of 20th Century culture.
  • Ability to undertake cross-cultural comparisons across different media.

Grading

  • Short Paper 20%
  • Short Presentation 15%
  • Participation & Attendance 15%
  • Term Paper + Outline 20%
  • Midterm Test 30%

NOTES:

STATEMENT ON "ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE" USAGE:

The use of technology to produce content for your assignments is strictly prohibited. All submissions for grading must be your own work. This specifically includes a prohibition on artificial intelligence writing software such as ChatGPT and translation software as it will interfere with the learning objectives outlined for this course.

NOTE:                     
Except by permission, computers and other digital devices are to be put away in class.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway, 1926 USA, Simon & Schuster 978-1982199524


Near to the Wild Heart, Clarice Lispector, 1943 BRAZIL, New Directions 978-0811220026


This Earth of Mankind, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, 1980 INDONESIA, Penguin 978-0140256352


RECOMMENDED READING:

“Sealed Off”, Zhang Ai-Lin, 1944 CHINA

“The Adulterous Woman”, Albert Camus, 1957 FRENCH ALGERIA

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

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


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.