Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2025 - WL 304 D100

Exile and Migration (4)

Class Number: 6136

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Tue, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Explores the culture of peoples and individuals displaced by force or migrating by choice. May focus on the literary cultures of exiles and emigres or on the depiction of refugees, immigrants or exiles. Breadth-Humanities.

COURSE DETAILS:

Both the exiled and the migrant identities can be said to straddle and simultaneously inhabit two (or more) cultures. Like Gloria Anzaldúa’s concept of the Borderlands –which are “vague” and “undetermined,”—the exile’s and the migrant’s experiences, too, are plural and in a constant state of transition. This liminality will inform the poetics of exile and migration as stemming from a constant yearning for a “lost homeland.” The course is divided in two parts, each of which highlights unique social and cultural phenomena related to the experience of exile and migration. We will begin by reading two works by authors who suffered political exile due to their opposition to 20th century regimes in China and Cuba: Xu Xu’s Bird Talk and Other Stories and Heberto Padilla’s Self-Portrait of the Other. The second part of the course will be devoted to Food Memory and Foodways in migrant fiction: to this end, we will read Bessie Head’s When Rain Clouds Gather as well as M.G. Vassanji’s No New Land. Some of the topics we will broach throughout the semester include political exile and forced migration; utopian/dystopian homelands; diasporic foodways; memory and nostalgia in exilic and migrant fiction, as well as colonialism vis-à-vis traditional food systems. All additional short readings and theoretical texts will be provided by the instructor.

Grading

  • Participation / Attendance 10%
  • Oral Report 15%
  • Art Project 15%
  • Final Exam 30%
  • Final Research Paper 30%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Bessie Head When Rain Clouds Gather

Heberto Padilla Self-Portrait of the Other

Xu Xu Bird Talk and Other Stories

M.G. Vassanji’s No New Land

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.