The “revolutionary conditions” of literature, Deleuze and Guattari said, can be found in literature “which a minority constructs in a major language.” Why, how? They ascribe the insurgent potential of this form of writing to its capacity for a collective and political perspective, and its “deterritorialization” of language. With an eye to these conditions, we will study the “deterritorialization” of English literature by analyzing the work of Anglophone authors from Southeast Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Australia. Because the local and global history of English matters for our understanding of each author’s work, we will approach the discourse of different regions in three-part units: first, encountering the precedent of fiction that reflects on the aftermath of British imperialism; second, examining contemporary work that interrogates the reconfigured social orders and power dynamics of decolonization; and third, combining our interpretations with critical theories about expression and history or memory in each region.

Contemporary writings about histories of globalization, war, diaspora, and migration deepen the present. We will permeate these histories through modes of expression, such as hybridity, creolization, code switching, translation, and multimedia. Taking inspiration from our materials, we will view ourselves as engaging in essay writing that is critical and creative, personally meaningful and politically informed.

Aims

• Explore works of global Anglophone literature
• Practice close reading literary and theoretical texts
• Form original, critical analyses in discussion and writing
• Become familiar with conventions of academic writing, research, and citation

Participation

Participation is mandatory. It includes outside preparation, taking notes while reading for class, and in-class written reflections. You should aim to speak at least once each meeting. Voicing a question or confusion is a simple, vital method.

In-class discussion gives you direct support for testing and refining your ideas, finding effective ways to communicate them, gauging their wider implications, and breaking down challenging readings. Plus, it combats isolation.

We are contending with a pandemic and unequal access to technology. Let me know if technical or other issues impede your participation. If you struggle to speak in class, please contact me to make an alternate plan.

Please inform me of any disabilities to arrange accommodations.

Assignments

Group notes
Small group discussions enable you to clarify your understanding of the text, self-guide your analysis, and connect with classmates. Each group is responsible for taking notes in the collaborative document editor Cryptpad.

Presentation
In a group of 3 students, you will give a short presentation (10 min. long) in class. This is a chance to communicate an individual interest in connection to the reading. You will explain your interest in an aspect of the text, share your analysis through an example, and receive questions from the class. We will briefly talk as a group beforehand for preliminary feedback.

Annotations
Using a social reading tool hypothes.is, we will highlight and analyze passages in specified texts. The passages you select to annotate could be one word or several sentences long. Analysis should focus on the language of the chosen passage. We will compare ideas about English, and ideas about language more generally, in the readings. Annotation enables close reading and bookmarking ideas for development in our discussions and writing. I will pose open-ended questions that may provide seeds for your textual analysis.

Midterm essay
For the midterm essay, you will receive guidelines to reflect on one text and your own creative, academic purposes. In this way, you will critically position yourself in relation to your object of study and practice referring to sources with purpose.

Final essay
You will design the topic of your final essay. It should investigate a question or problem that occurs in your consideration of the course topics. Use at least one of the readings and a secondary source. Individual conferences will be set up for discussing your topic proposal. You may adapt the genre and medium of the essay to suit your aims. The essays will appear in a digital gallery on our course site.

Writing length
Students will cumulatively write at least 3,500 words as per Faculty Council mandate.

Expectations

Assessment
More than flawless literary interpretation or the perfect essay, I am looking for your direct engagement with the texts, hard work to communicate that engagement in writing, and efforts to think critically and collaborate supportively with the class. If you approach the assignments in this manner, I will be able to help you improve in any weaker areas and your grade will be rewarded.

Academic Integrity
Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s ideas, research or writing as your own. Examples of plagiarism include:

• Copying another person’s actual words without the use of quotation marks and footnotes attributing the words to their source.
• Presenting another person’s ideas or theories in your own words without acknowledging the source.
• Internet Plagiarism includes submitting downloaded term papers or parts of term papers, paraphrasing or copying information from the internet without citing the source, or “cutting & pasting” from various sources without proper attribution.

– CCNY Undergraduate Bulletin

Plagiarism will result in failing the assignment and possibly the course. No exceptions.

Grade

15%    Participation                                       Weekly
10%    Group notes                                       Weekly
15%    Presentation                                      Once
15%    Annotations                                       See schedule (✍)
15%    Midterm essay                                   Due 10/20
5%    Final proposal and revision            Due 12/7, 12/21
25%    Final essay                                          Due 12/15

Each day past the due date will lower the grade of an assignment incrementally (e.g. A to A-, A- to B+). Extensions do not affect your grade and must be approved in advance.

Course materials

All readings are available on our course site.

You are welcome to read the assigned texts in other languages. English does not exist in a vacuum, and diverse reading practices will enhance our literary study. We may collect translations as desired.