Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0234 - Traveling Identities: Migrations in Contemporary Film, Fiction and Memoir

In an age of increased movement of people across the globe, this seminar focuses on past and present experiences of (im)migrants, which have inspired a number of recent and contemporary novels, feature films, documentaries, memoirs, and theoretical debates about cultural identity, place and displacement. Using cultural studies of travel, diaspora, ethnicity, and theories of identity and home as critical frameworks for discussion, we will examine some of the following issues addressed in narrative film, fiction and memoirs: the complexities of adaptation or resistance to new cultures; culture transfer, hybridity and biculturality; the journey as metaphor, escape, physical ordeal and psychological odyssey; the meanings of nostalgia and home; intergenerational conflicts between tradition and modernity; representation and negotiations of national and ethnic identities; the cultural and psychological consequences of border crossings; and the interconnections of language, culture and sense of self. This course is part of the Time and Narrative Learning Collaborative (LC) and will address the central challenge question: How can art and creative practices engage trauma? in the context of migration literature and film. How can fictional narratives provide us with insight into different perspectives and the traumatic experiences of displacement? How does film/literature capture a different imaginary relationship migrants must create to a new homeland? Keywords: migration, literature, film studies, identity, cultural studies

Time and Narrative Student should expect to spend 6-8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.