Time Schedule:
Heyang Julie Kae
B CUSP 190
Bothell Campus
Critically engages with contemporary fiction, poetry, drama, cross-genre writing, or new media texts to investigate questions such as methods of interpretation, cultural identity, historiography, gender formations, or political analysis. Offered: ASp.
Class description
Narratives of Displacement This course will explore contemporary literature that thematizes 'displacement,' a process of moving from one place to another. As we explore how literature narrates the flow of bodies across borders, imagined and real, we will play close attention to how displacement is simultaneously a shared and singular experience. While our readings will focus primarily works by writers located in the U.S., the works themselves will open up questions about how we might define nation, community and identity beyond their normative limits. Required texts will be chosen from the following: Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979) The Coffin Tree by Wendy Law-Yone (1983) The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie (1993) The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (2007) Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (2010)
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Discussion and some lecture
Recommended preparation
Students should be prepared to read some challenging literature, in terms of length, style and content. Some texts will be lengthy. Some texts will use experimental narrative form. Some texts will include scenes of graphic sexuality and violence.
Class assignments and grading
Several short writing assignments (2-3 pages), quizzes (announced and unannounced) and class presentation.
