Spring 2025 - WL 104W D100

Modern World Literatures (3)

Class Number: 6130

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Thu, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 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:

Echoing Julia Kristeva’s key concept of the abject, Adrienne Rich writes that “our personalities seem dangerously to blur and overlap with our mothers’ and, in a desperate attempt to know where mother ends and daughter begins, we perform radical surgery.” Taking Rich’s words as a starting point, in this course we will expose and dissect –figurative scalpel in hand—, the ways in which the oftentimes challenging and/or dysfunctional relationship between mothers and daughters is articulated in literary texts from around the globe. We’ll begin with the classic Spanish play The House of Bernarda Alba and the domineering mother with an iron fist who controls her five daughters, then move on to the jaded young daughter who (mis)communicates with her mother non-verbally in the Japanese novel Breasts and Eggs. Finally, we’ll analyze the novel Zenzele: A Letter for my Daughter, where the melancholy of a traditionalist Zimbabwean mother is crystallized into letters to a daughter who decides to study in the U.S., as well as Elena Ferrante’s poignant tale of an Italian mother who abandons her two young daughters in The Lost Daughter. Rather than rely on binary categorizations of the figure of the mother as either “despotic” or “angelic,” we will engage deeply with ideas of the self and the (m)other; matriarchal systems; female honour and virginity; “unnatural” mothers; desire and oppression, among others, as they are foregrounded in diverse cultural contexts.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

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

  • Read a literary text through the lens of critical analysis
  • Produce an organized, polished literary essay
  • Engage with instructor feedback on their writing
  • Articulate ideas regarding the cultural implications and ramifications of the figure of the mother as presented in diverse literary texts from around the world

Grading

  • Attendance / Active Participation 10%
  • Essay #1 10%
  • Group Oral Report 10%
  • Essay #2 and Re-Write (25% + 25%) 50%
  • Final Exam (in-person; written in ink) 20%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

  • Federico García Lorca, The House of Bernarda Alba (Available Online)

  • Mieko Kawakami, Breasts and Eggs ISBN-10: 160945670X

  • Nozipo Maraire, Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter.  ISBN-13: 979-8542881133

  • Elena Ferrante, The Lost Daughter ISBN-10: ‎1609457692

Additional reading/viewing material will be provided by the instructor on Canvas.


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.