English 257 - Postcolonial Archipelagos

This course works with archipelagos in two ways:  as a specific postcolonial geography and as a metaphor for postcolonial relations.  Reading texts from the Caribbean, Oceania, Hawaii, New Zealand, and maritime Southeast Asia, the course explores on the one hand how colonialism fragments island societies into languages, races, classes, and national allegiances, and on the other hand, how postcolonial authors explore and recuperate archipelagic identities through literary narratives.  While we will read across several genres, we will pay special attention to the short story as a genre of the literary archipelago.  We may read works from V. S. Naipaul, Andrew Salkey, Derek Walcott, Monique Roffey, Epeli Hau’ofa, Gary Pak, Kathleen Tyau, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme, Tash Aw, and K. S. Maniam.

Limited to 35 students.  Fall semester.  Visiting Professor Huang