(This course meets GE Area “C” and Diversity and Common Ground Requirements)

Goals:  The chief aim of this course is for us to have a good time getting acquainted with some works of literature and film that, for various reasons, have tended to get ignored by English departments. But that simple mission statement makes our project seem a lot more disinterested and a lot less complicated than it really is. For the novels (and movies and plays and poems) we’ll be looking at and talking about don’t exist in a vacuum of universally agreed-upon Great Literature (capital G, capital L) to which they’ve now been belatedly admitted. Rather, they have complex cultural and political relationships to two of the cultures—British and American—that invented the very concept of “Great Literature.”

Many argue that the modern world was fundamentally shaped by imperialism and colonialism, and more specifically that the contemporary cultural, economic and political preëminence of the West (or the North, depending upon how you look at it) is a product of Europe’s—and later, America’s—centuries-long history of global domination. And if the “First World” has consequently entered the 21st century on top, then the people of the places it colonized haven’t, to put it mildly, fared quite as well: their land and natural resources were stolen, their cultures were suppressed and distorted, and their countries were locked into a dependent relationship with the industrialized nations that has proven hard to transform, even in a putatively “post”-colonial era. Moreover, many of the Third World’s most intractable political disputes are legacies of imperial cartography, and of colonial policies that relied on the orchestrated perpetuation of ethnic ill-will.

But the news isn’t all bad. For instance: colonized peoples may once have had alien languages and cultures imposed on them, but they also transformed those impositions into tools of anti-colonial resistance and postcolonial nation-building. Part of their figurative “profit” from having acquired such tools, in other words, is that (to quote Shakespeare’s Caliban) they “know how to curse”—and a whole lot more, besides. African, South Asian, Caribbean and Pacific peoples, for instance, have taken English and its established literary forms, altered and denatured them through infusions of local linguistic and cultural traditions, and appropriated them for their own uses. In the process, sometimes deliberately and sometimes incidentally, they’ve shaken Western aesthetic assumptions, produced some of the worthiest literature and culture of the last century, and fundamentally challenged the whole notion of “English.” It’ll be our job here to begin to understand some of the ways in which they’ve done that.

Work:  there will be times—sometimes entire classes—when I’ll need to lecture at you, perform some show-and-tell, or plant some idea or other in your head. But for the most part, I’m expecting you to be enthusiastic learners who are willing to explore this territory both independently and coöperatively. Here’s one way how: on six occasions of your choice (out of eleven opportunities), you’ll post a response on the week’s reading to one of a series of Blackboard discussion forums that will be linked from the class web page. I realize that technological unfamiliarity, together with general fear and loathing, can sometimes conspire to rob such electronic tools of their full potential for knowledge-pooling and community-building. Still, this is one of the best ways I know for you to gather your thoughts about a text and begin articulating them. So, um…what exactly do I mean by a “reading response”? Look for a separate, long-winded handout. For now, let me stick to logistics:

Whenever you choose to write a response, you must post it no later than 8:00 p.m. on the date specified in the calendar (below), so that other folks have a fighting chance to digest it (or at least taste it) before class the next day. Always save a copy on your hard drive and print out a hard copy for yourself, and bring that copy with you to refer to in class. (Unless there’s been a system-wide network failure or a documented problem with your Internet provider or in your computer lab, late responses will count against you. Missing responses may result in a failing grade.) Each response should be the equivalent of at least two handwritten pages—roughly 400-500 words. But since this requirement is aimed first and foremost at getting you to think out loud, without undue pressure or judgment, about challenging and sometimes provocative texts, I will normally merely count words unless you specifically ask me (by e-mail) to respond to you personally. A minimum, good-faith effort is good for something in the “C” range; 600-750 words will earn a B; 800-1000 words an A. I’ll bump you up an additional 1/3 of a grade if you contribute a follow-up post of at least 100 words (preferably—at least partially—in response to someone else’s post) later in the week. If, by some critical point in the semester, you’ve decided that you’re hopelessly behind, you may buy your way out of two (2) responses, either in advance or after the fact, by substituting a formal, graded midterm essay. You’ll need a grade of “C” or better on the essay for this to work. Approach me any time between Tuesday, October 3 and Thursday, November 3, and I’ll provide you with a choice of questions, each of which will give you an opportunity to think and write about several texts in relation to one another and around some common theme.

Collectively, these responses—which, though informal, should still be thoughtful, not slapdash—may constitute a kind of freestanding discussion, especially if enough people build the momentum to carry it through the week. Obviously, taking the trouble to work amorphous, gut responses into ideas on screen should also give you ready-made material (work-in-progress, anyway) to refer to in class. Sometimes we may bring what takes place here into the classroom, as well, and your on-line responses may become starting points for in-class discussion; to that end, everyone should try to at least glance at other folks’ posts before class. (Believe me, you’ll often find some brilliant ideas there.) But those who’ve opted not to write on a given occasion should take special care in their reading, and begin to imagine how some of the posts might “speak” to each other and suggest an agenda for in-class discussion. To wit:

On four of those occasions when you’ve chosen not to post a reading response, you should formulate a discussion question inspired by your perusal of what others have contributed to the online forum, put that question in writing, and come to class ready both to hand it in and to read it out loud. Your query might be triggered by a specific remark; it might bring (parts of) two or more posts into direct dialogue (Cartman said X about topic Y and Kyle, by contrast, said Z; what I’m wondering is…?), or it might reflect a more general synthesis of your reaction to the whole crop of responses. But give your question some heft: it should make explicit reference (at least in passing) to more than one posting, and it should be both pointed and open-ended enough to invite some genuine dialogue. There’s no guarantee that these will get used in class, though it’ll be nice to have ‘em on hand. In some ways, I’m more interested in simply having you put in the care and attention required to cook them up. A class session can be a lot more interesting if you’ve had a chance to read, hash over, and maybe even respond to what other folks are thinking before you all sit down in a room together.

You should always feel free to log on to the forum and make a spontaneous post of any length, at any time, even if you’re not doing so for formal credit: the boards remain open during the 165 hours of the week when our class doesn’t meet, for gripes, questions, objections or clarifications; remarks on something that someone did or didn’t say in class; afterthoughts or second thoughts about the texts; etc. Lively debate, even strong language, is always welcome. Just don’t get personal, and do try to keep a civil tongue.

So, to enumerate your basic responsibilities (and how they count towards your final grade) more formally:

1.     Regular attendance.  To contribute to a good discussion (and to get anything out of one), you’ve got to be here.  So don’t cut a lot of class; we’ll miss you, there’s no telling what you’ll miss, and your grade will suffer.  I won’t ask questions if you’re gone up to three times (a courtesy call or e-mail is always appreciated), but more than that will begin to hurt.  Should you miss more than 20% of the class (six times), I’ll probably talk to you about dropping.

2.     Careful and on-time reading of assignments, six (6) informal written responses to what you’ve studied and four (4) discussion questions based on others’ responses (as outlined above, and according to the calendar below), and active engagement in the collective talk that ensues.  You need to do your small part in starting up discussions and keeping them going—to show some degree of intelligence, inquisitiveness and enthusiasm both in responding to one another and to the materials on the table, and in helping to control the direction and flow of the conversation.  (1 and 2 together about 65%.)

3.      A final project, which may take the form of either a traditional take-home essay exam or an “alternative” individual or group endeavor—details  to follow.  (About 35%.)

We can talk more about these requirements, if we need to, as the semester progresses.

Texts:  Since this is an introductory survey of a rather sprawling field, the booklist looks pretty heavy, but I promise you that they’re all great reads.  There are seven (!) books you should pick up at the HSU Bookstore or anywhere else you can find them:

(If you’re really strapped for cash, try local and/or online used booksellers, check the library, share a book or two with a friend, or ask me if I have an extra copy to lend you.)

For those with enough gumption (and deep enough pockets) to enhance their cultural, political and theoretical understanding of things postcolonial, I highly recommend the following very handy reference:

There are two additional texts available only on the class Web Page:

You’ll be prompted to enter a username and a password to view this material; both are found on the hard copy of your syllabus (e-mail me if you've mislaid it).  If you’re not web-literate, I’ll gladly provide some basic tutoring.

Miscellany: I may occasionally send official communiqués (reading or study questions, schedule changes, afterthoughts or announcements I forgot to make in class, etc.) by e-mail, so if you don’t do so already, get in the habit of checking your e-mail nightly. If you have something for general distribution, feel free to use the class listserv, an address that automatically copies anything sent to it to the entire class. Send an e-mail to: hsu-engl305-1@redwood.humboldt.edu.

Grading:  Here’s where the oppressive substructure of my seemingly benign classroom shows through.  Since they force the system on me, I make my letter grades conform to official guidelines: “A” gets tacked onto truly stunning and outstanding work; “B” work goes (qualitatively) beyond mere course requirements; and “C” is standard and normal—i.e., it meets the basic course requirements in every way.  “D” is worthy of credit but substandard, and I guess we all know what “F” means.  If you’re taking this class S/N, you need the equivalent of a “C” to pass.  I don’t expect to give any incompletes.

I’ll read and respond to anything you ask me to, and I'll grade all of your formal work. You're always welcome to come see me at any point in the term to talk about your progress, prospects, enthusiasms or anxieties.  If you’re getting behind in the class, feeling like you’re not “getting” something, or just having an unspecified problem either mild or severe, don’t sit around fretting and cowering:  come and talk to me without delay.

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CALENDAR

(Danger! Highly volatile—subject to change!)

N.B.:  The greater part of any reading response should be devoted to  the relevant “major” work(s) for the week, but I’ll be endlessly impressed if you find intelligent ways to relate the “supplemental” reserve readings to your discussion, as well.

ALL FINAL COURSEWORK DUE NO LATER THAN 3:00 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15TH.