English 381-001
World Literatures Written in English
Instr: Roberts, Sheila
Office: CRT 597; 229-5434
e-mail: svrob@uwm.edu
Office hours: MW; 1:30-2:30pm
Course Information: MW; 3:30-4:45pm; TBA
Course Description
In the mid-1950s, when the Nigerian, Chinua Achebe, began publishing fiction in English, his novels gave an impetus to the emerging debates on Colonialism and Post-colonialism. His works were soon followed by those of Sembene Ousmane of Senegal; Ngugi Wa Thiong'o of Kenya; and Anita Desai of India. Academic and serious readers alike became engrossed in these unexpectedly superb novels in English by non-English writers.
In this course we will read a selection of novels from around the world, and students will be encouraged to research other writing - short fiction and essays - by the authors chosen for the semester reading, as well as the academic critiques and commentaries addressed to this historically new writing. A list of recommended reading will also be made available.
Required Reading (some of these novels are short)
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Nigerian)
God's Bits of Wood by Sembene Ousmane (Senegal)
The Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai (Indian)
The Carpathians by Janet Frame (New Zealand)
The House Gun by Nadine Gordimer (South African)
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (South African)
Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid (Caribbean)
Remembering Babylon by David Malouf (Australian)
| Four response papers (2-4pp) on any four of the above novels | 40% |
| One mid-term paper (5-7pp) | 20% |
| An end-of-semester paper (8pp) | 30% |
| Punctuality, attendance, and class participation | 10% |
