Detailed Schedule | Contemporary World Literature in English

Week 1	Aug. 10	1: The World of Literature Reading Simon Ortiz, "Song, Poetry and Language—Expression and Perception" (1977) Tosh, "the first frost---" (2017) NYC-Urbana, "Running a Race (No One Knows)," The Spoken Word Revolution (2005) Margaret Atwood, Dearly: New Poems (2020; course access) Dan Halpern, Publisher's Note "Dearly" "Blackberries" Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide (2004) chapter 1 "The Tide Country" pp. 3–7 Discussion: The literary instinct; forms of literature and storytelling; annotated reading Classcast Annotated reading Touch in (Your one-minute individual open time to connect with class, ask your questions, share your ideas/findings, and tap into the resources of everybody's live presence) Close writing Session Comments and Continued Discussion (Go to this collaborative page for further conversations on the topics raised in our first class and to give feedback.)
Week 1	Aug. 12	No class (Mother's Day)
Week 2	Aug. 17	2: Unpacking the Anglophone Reading Nathalie Handal, "Les chemins lumière," Life in a Country Album* (2019) Amitav Ghosh, Jnanpith Address (2019) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide (2004) chapters 2 "An Invitation"–5 "Lusibari" pp. 8–35 Gregory Jusdanis, "," Arcade () Discussion: The meaning of anglophone; globalization and localization of English literature Classcast Annotated reading Touch in Diary: (5 minutes) Reproduce (in English) as best you can (ex. in terms of atmosphere, feeling, tone, sound, rhythms, and sense) a conversation with the oldest relative you can remember. Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 2	Aug. 19	3 Reading Valerie Bloom, "Two Seasons," The World Is Sweet* (2000; study guide) Valerie Bloom, "Two Seasons," Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (2015; video clip, 3:31 min.) Birgit Neumann and Gabriele Rippl, "Anglophone World Literatures: Introduction," Anglia, vol. 135, no. 1 (2017) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapter 6 "The Fall" pp. 35–41 Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide, "The Fall," narrated by Firdous Bamji (2005; audio clip, 19:36 min.) Discussion: Form and content Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 3	Aug. 24	4: Contemporariness Reading Tsa, "Time in Broken Branches," Yeshe Nangsa Söyang, "In Tibet, Just Be a Stone," Yeshe (2016) Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, "Virtual," Poetry Foundation* (2016; text and audio clip) Lekey S. Leidecker, "London/Story" and "When the Impossible Arrives," Yeshe* "One Wife and Her Three Husbands: How is their Life? The Polyandry Culture in Tibet," Tibet Vista (2021; video clip, 22:24 min.) Michael Maguire, "Now Then: The Emergence of the Contemporary Literature Journal," Criticism, vol. 62, no. 4 (2020; Chula access) *Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide (2004) chapters 7 "S'Daniel"–9 "The Trust" Discussion: Defining the contemporary Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 3	Aug. 26	5 Reading Robert Bringhurst, "All over the World," New World Suite No. 3* (1995, 2018) Maxine Hong Kingston, "A Sea Worry," Hawai'i One Summer (1978) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 10 "Fokir"–12 "The Boat" Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 4	Aug. 31	6: Mindscape Reading Guillermo Gomez-Pena and Coco Fusco, The Couple in the Cage: A Guatinaui Odyssey* (1993; video clip, 32:30 min., performance begins at 1:12 min.) Coco Fusco, "Still in the Cage: Thoughts on 'Two Undiscovered Amerindians,' 20 Years Later," Beyond Critique: Contemporary Art in Theory, Practice, and Instruction (2017; course access) Kanitra Fletcher, "Couple in the Cage," Landmarks, University of Texas at Austin J. M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians* (1980; course access; study guide) chapter 1 (pp. 4–35) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 13 "Nirmal and Nilima"–15 "Kusum" Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 4	Sep. 2	7 Reading J. M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians* (1980; course access; study guide) chapter 2 excerpt (pp. 36–41) J. M. Coetzee, "Into the Dark Chamber: The Novelist and South Africa," The New York Times (1986) C. P. Cavafy, "Waiting for the Barbarians," C. P. Cavafy: Collected Poems (1975) Adam Hochschild, "The Truth Room," The Mirror at Midnight: A South African Journey (2007) excerpt pp. 149–52 Christopher van Wyk, "In Detention" (1979) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide (2004) chapter 16 "Words" Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 5	Sep. 7	8: Hybridity Reading Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Supernintendo Ranchero, BORDERscape 2000* (2000; course access) Lisa Wolford, "Away from the Surveillance Cameras of the Art World," Dangerous Border Crossers: The Artist Talks Back (2000 interview; course access) Frederick Luis Aldama, Review of Dangerous Border Crossers, Modern Drama, vol. 45, no. 1 (2002) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 17 "The Glory of Bon Bibi"–18 "Stirrings" Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 5	Sep. 9	9 Reading Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Supernintendo Ranchero, BORDERscape 2000* (2000; course access) John Agard, Alternative Anthem: Selected Poems* (2009) "Half-Caste" (2004) "Half-Caste," Southbank Centre (2012; video clip, 2:40 min.) "John Agard Reads His Poem Half Caste and Talks about Race," The Guardian (2014; audio clip, 15:15 min.) "Reporting from the Frontline of the Great Dictionary Disaster" (2006) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapter 19 "Morichjhãpi" Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 6	Sep. 14	10: The Country and the City Reading Owen Marshall, "Cabernet Sauvignon with My Brother" (1982) "Worksheet," Owen Marshall* (study questions for the short story) John McGahern, "Rural Ireland's Passing," Irish Independent (2000) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 20 "An Epiphany"–22 "Crabs" Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 6	Sep. 16	11 Reading Owen Marshall, "Cabernet Sauvignon with My Brother" (1982) Raymond Williams, "Country and City," The Country and the City* (1975) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 23 "Travels"–24 "Garjontola" Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 7	Sep. 21	12: Meetings Reading Rattawut Lapcharoensap, "Priscilla the Cambodian," Sightseeing* (2005; study guide) J. T. Rogers, Oslo, directed by Bartlett Sher (2017; video clip, 1 hr. 58 min.) "Opening Night of Oslo on Broadway," Lincoln Center Theater* (2017; video clip, 2:08 min.) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 25 "A Disturbance"–27 "Blown Ashore" Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 7	Sep. 23	13 Reading Rattawut Lapcharoensap, "Priscilla the Cambodian," Sightseeing* (2005; study guide) J. T. Rogers, Oslo, directed by Bartlett Sher (2017; video clip, 1 hr. 58 min.) J. T. Rogers, "Introduction," Oslo* (2017) "Oslo," Lincoln Center Theater (2017; Broadway production information) Oslo, Lincoln Center Theater Review, no. 67 (2016) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 28 "A Hunt"–30 "Pursued" (end of part 1 "The Ebb: Bhata") Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 8	Sep. 28	No class (Midterm week: September 27–October 1, 2021)
Week 8	Sep. 30	(Midterm week: September 27–October 1, 2021) Test 1 (15 minutes for thought and planning and 1 hour for writing) This is an open-book essay-type online test.
Week 9	Oct. 5	14: Experiments Reading Augusto de Campos, "Eye for Eye [Olho por olho]" (1964) Prince Chand, "Septuagenarian" (1983; course access) Joshua Ip, Sonnets from the Singlish* (2015; course access) "Soft-Boiled" "I Jio You with This Eraser" Joe Bray, Alison Gibbons, and Brian McHale, Introduction, The Routledge Companion to Experimental Literature (2012; course access; read from Part III "The Persistence of the Historical Avant-Gardes" pp. 4–18) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 31 "Beginning Again"–34 "Catching Up" Discussion: Experimental literature; genre, form; native and non-native Englishes Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 9	Oct. 7	15: Experiments Reading Joshua Ip, Sonnets from the Singlish* (2015; course access) "On Immortality" "Note" "Annus Mirabilis" Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 35 "Storms"–36 "Negotiations" Discussion: Cultural literacy and resonance; allegorical and intertextual resources Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 10	Oct. 12	16: Engagements Reading Petina Gappah, "A Kind of Justice," Rotten Row* (2016; course access; reader discretion is advised) Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (2007; content about war, reader discretion is advised) "New York City, 1998" (book introduction) Chapter 1 excerpt Razia Iqbal, "Writer Aminatta Forna and the Exploration of Silence," BBC (2013; video clip, 3:26 min.) "'My Zimbabwe is greatly misunderstood': Writer Petina Gappah," Big World Cinema, Al Jazeera (2021; video clip, 24:52 min.) "Rotten Row," The Royal Parks (2020) The Book of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy 21:9, King James Version Deuteronomy 21:9, King James Version (1611) "Deuteronomy," Encyclopaedia Britannica Stephen L. Cook, "Introduction," Deuteronomy, Oxford UP (2010) Ronald E. Clements, "Deuteronomy, The Book of," The Oxford Companion to the Bible (2004) "The Book of Deuteronomy," United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (2021) Blood Diamond, directed by Edward Zwick (2006) "This is Africa" (video clip, 4 min.) Trailer for Blu-ray, Warner Bros. (video clip, 2:25 min.) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 37 "Habits"–39 "Transformation" Discussion: Fictional engagements with the world Classcast Symbols and Justice Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 10	Oct. 14	17: Engagements Reading Petina Gappah, "A Kind of Justice," Rotten Row* (2016; course access) The Special Court for Sierra Leone (and Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 40 "A Pilgrimage"–41 "Destiny" pp. 187–95 Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 11	Oct. 19	18: Engagements Reading Mzi Mahola, Dancing in the Rain* (2006) "Intaba Zebhukazana" "The Roadblock" "The Question" "Water in a Sieve" Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 42 "The Megha"–45 "Besieged" pp. 195–212 Discussion: Classcast Symbols, Justice and Engagements Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 11	Oct. 21	No class (end of Buddhist Lent) Reading Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 46 "Words"–48 "Leaving Lusibari" pp. 212–23
Week 12	Oct. 26	19 Reading Agha Shahid Ali (course access) "Postcard from Kashmir" "Stationery" "The Country without a Post Office" "The Floating Post Office" Amitav Ghosh, "'The Ghat of the Only World': Agha Shahid Ali in Brooklyn" (2002) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide (2004) chapters 49 "An Interruption"–52 "A Killing" pp. 223–44 Discussion: Classcast What do you see? Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 12	Oct. 28	20 Reading Amine Barbuda, "Diamond Princess II," Angles: New Perspectives on the Anglophone World, vol. 12 (2021) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide (2004) chapters 53 "Interrogations"–54 "Mr. Sloane" pp. 244–55 Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 13	Nov. 2	21: No Man's Land Reading María Irene Fornés, Letters from Cuba* (2000) Michel Merlet, "How Did the Concept of 'Land Ownership' Come About? Joseph Comby," Agter "Data and Research," International Organization for Migration (2021) "World Migration Report 2020" (report and dynamic data visualization) Migration Data Portal (2021) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 55 "Kratie"–56 "Signs" pp. 255–73 Discussion: Migration; migrants; expats; third space; borders; theatrical spaces and dramatic communication Classcast Response: (40 minutes) Where is New York and Cuba? Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 13	Nov. 4	22: No Man's Land Reading María Irene Fornés, Letters from Cuba* (2000) Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 57 "Lights"–58 "A Search" pp. 273–84 George Monbiot, "Private Sufficiency, Public Luxury: Land is the Key to the Transformation of Society," Schumacher Center for New Economics (2020; 40th Annual E. F. Schumacher Lecture; 1 hr. 52:20 min., 47 min. lecture followed by discussion) Discussion: Cultural, linguistic and population movement; communication; contact; autobiographical elements; disability Classcast Response: (40 minutes) Implications of no man's land Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 14	Nov. 9	23: Prior Texts Reading Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 59 "Casualties"–61 "Fresh Water and Salt" pp. 284–301 Rabindranath Tagore, "The Hungry Stones," The Hungry Stones and Other Stories (1916) Discussion: World and life; myths; imaginative genesis; oral culture; predecessors; genres Classcast Response: (40 minutes) Where does The Hungry Tide come from? Watch one or all of the following 40-minute episodes of the ongoing documentary series While the Rest of Us Die season 2 from Vice Media. Keep comparative notes of what the episode(s) show leads up to the titular situation discussed and what The Hungry Tide shows are its shapers. Mark factors that are shared between the documentary and the novel and those that are not. Notice as well the type and range of elements that inform each story. (Videos are, as usual, in our course Media folder, part of the G Suite provided by our IT services, so use your official Chula login to access them. I will take these three files down at the end of the day.) 1: "The Game Is Rigged" 2: "Food Kills" 3: "Killing Power" Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 14	Nov. 11	24: Contexts Reading Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 62 "Horizons"–63 "Losses" pp. 301–10 Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 15	Nov. 16	25: Anthologizing the World Reading Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapters 64 "Going Ashore"–65 "The Wave" pp. 310–21 Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 15	Nov. 18	26 Reading Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapter 66 "The Day After" pp. 322–24 Discussion: Classcast Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 16	Nov. 23	27: The Touch of Literature Reading Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide* (2004) chapter 67 "Home: An Epilogue" pp. 324–29 Discussion: Classcast Lit Spot Presentation: The Touch of... (Topic sign-up sheet) Session Comments and Continued Discussion
Week 16	Nov. 25	28 Test 2 (online, open-book; 9:35–10:50 a.m.: 1 hour for writing and 15 minutes for thought and proofreading; 30 points) The test covers material from weeks 9–16. The prompt and instructions are posted on our announcements page. Classcast (for those of you who would like to have access to me during test period via this channel)
Week 18	Dec. 10	Final paper due (3–5pp.)