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Fall 2001 |
Skip Willman |
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English 237 (4509/4510) |
Rice 103, (440) 775-8580 |
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Office hours: M, 12:00-1:00 |
Course Description:
This course will trace the influence of magical realism on the American literary sphere. The cultural appropriation of magical realism by American writers and its selling in the American literary marketplace raises various questions about the nature of colonialism, particularly when this predominantly Latin American export is viewed as a "literature of replenishment" (John Barth). Why do American writers and readers find magical realism so fascinating? Our examination will seek to uncover the utopian dimension or the fantasy compensations offered by magical realism. How does the translation of magical realism into an American context transform the genre or alter our perceptions about our own social reality? This course will begin with a foray into the Latin American "origins" of magical realism with the fiction of Borges and Marquez. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which the most successful works of magical realism question Western rationality and interrogate a social reality dictated by racism and patriarchy. For many American writers, including Toni Morrison, Ana Castillo, and Ntozake Shange, magical realism challenges the assumptions of the dominant ideology, offering a space of resistance, subversion, and sisterhood. Even as it questions oppressive ideologies, however, magical realism also offers a blueprint for narrating the nation. Whether this co-optation of magical realism retains its radical politics within the form of national allegory will be the question we explore in the work of John Updike, Thomas Pynchon, and Paul Auster. Finally, Salman Rushdie's The Ground Beneath Her Feet will allow us to consider the complicated cultural circuit between East and West, North and South and the effects of globalization through this mythic rock and roll tale.
Required Texts:
Course Policies:
Attendance: Regular attendance is required. You will be allowed to miss three classes without suffering any consequences. Each additional absence will result in the loss of 5% (or 50 points) from your final grade. I do not discriminate between "excused" and "unexcused" absences. If you miss nine or more days, you will receive a grade of F for the course.
Paper Format: All of your papers must be typed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides. In the upper left-hand corner, put your name, my name, the course number and section, and date on successive lines. Essays should be grammatically sound and employ standard spelling and punctuation.
Late Papers: You will be required to complete all of the assignments in order to pass the course. All papers must be submitted on the dates they are due. Late papers will be collected and 10% will be deducted from your grade for the assignment for each class period it is late.
Participation: Your participation in this course will be evaluated, so it behooves you to come to class prepared. Read the material for each class meeting so you can make a contribution to each and every classroom discussion. Allow yourself plenty of time to read and digest the theoretical essays. I hope I do not have to remind you to bring the texts to class that are assigned for the day. This includes material from electronic reserve. The syllabus is subject to change, so be sure you know the assignment for the next class, especially if you miss a day.
Scholastic Honesty: Students in this class are expected to avoid any instances of academic misconduct, including but not limited to:
Assignments and Grades:
Grades will be broken down as follows:
Written Assignments
Pts.
4 Response Papers (1-2 pages)
#1 Paper (4-5 pages)
#2 Final Paper (10-12 pages)
- 200
- 200
- 500
Other
#5 Participation
100
Total =
- 1000
A = 900-1000; B = 800-899; C = 700-799; D = 600-699; F = 0-599
Syllabus (Tentative)
Week One:
W (9/5): Introduction to the Course
F (9/7): Barth, "The Literature of Exhaustion"; Borges, "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"
Week Two:
M (9/10): Borges, "The Argentine Writer and Tradition" and "The Aleph"
W (9/12): Jameson, "The Realist Floor-Plan"
F (9/14): Barth, "The Literature of Replenishment"; hooks, "Eating the Other"
Week Three:
M (9/17): Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude; Response Paper #1 Due
W (9/19): Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
F (9/21): Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Week Four:
M (9/24): Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
W (9/26): Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
F (9/28): Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Week Five:
M (10/1): Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate; Response Paper #2 Due
W (10/3): Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate
F (10/5): Screening of Like Water for Chocolate
Week Six:
M (10/8): Morrison, Beloved
W (10/10): Morrison, Beloved
F (10/12): Morrison, Beloved
Week Seven:
M (10/15): Shange, Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo
W (10/17): Shange, Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo
F (10/19): Shange, Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo; Paper #1 Due
Week Eight: Fall Recess
Week Nine:
M (10/29): Castillo, So Far from God
W (10/31): Castillo, So Far from God
F (11/2): Castillo, So Far from God
Week Ten:
M (11/5): Updike, The Witches of Eastwick; Response Paper #3
W (11/7): Updike, The Witches of Eastwick
F (11/9): Updike, The Witches of Eastwick
Week Eleven:
M (11/12): Pynchon, Vineland
W (11/14): Pynchon, Vineland
F (11/16): Pynchon, Vineland
Week Twelve:
M (11/19): Screening of Field of Dreams; Response Paper #4
W (11/21): Field of Dreams
F (11/23): Thanksgiving Recess
Week Thirteen:
M (11/26): Auster, Mr. Vertigo
W (11/28): Auster, Mr. Vertigo
F (11/30): Auster, Mr. Vertigo
Week Fourteen:
M (12/3): Rushdie, The Ground Beneath Her Feet
W (12/5): Rushdie, The Ground Beneath Her Feet
F (12/7): Rushdie, The Ground Beneath Her Feet
Week Fifteen:
M (12/10): Rushdie, The Ground Beneath Her Feet
W (12/12): Rushdie, The Ground Beneath Her Feet
F (12/14): Final Paper Due