Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0189 - 20th C. Caribbean Literature

This introductory seminar is intended to 1) familiarize students with a range of texts (novels, short stories, essays and poems) written by writers from the Anglophone and Francophone Caribbean 2) introduce the language of literary studies and narrative theory using contemporary Caribbean Literatures as aesthetic, historical, cultural and political models. 3) demonstrate the ways that memory, imagination, language function in narrative 4) explore the construction of gender & sexuality; race & class; difference & identity; and trauma & witnessing. The primary challenge of this course is to identify and master a set of strategies for advanced work in the functions of narrative theory - such as text and authorship, genre, style, character and figurative language - to be practiced with each text. This seminar, in addition to close and careful reading, requires weekly writing, revision, peer editing and presentations. While the literature will change yearly, the focus on literary studies remains constant. Authors may include but are not limited to Dionne Brand, Patrick Chamoiseau, Maryse Conde, Jamaica Kincaid, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Earl Lovelace, Shani Motoo, V.S. Naipaul and Jean Rhys.

Culture, Humanities, and Languages Power, Community and Social Justice Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research Students are expected to spend 10 hours weekly in preparation and work outside of class time.