Comparative Literature 100 - INTRO:THE PLEASURES OF READING

Topics course. An examination of the rewritings and adaptations of the three iconic figures of Shakespeare's The Tempest-Caliban the demi-devil savage other, Sycorax the devil-whore, and Miranda the virgin-goddess-by writers from different geographies, time periods and ideological persuasions. Using texts such as Aime Cesaire's A Tempest, Rachel Ingalls' Mrs. Caliban, Lemuel Johnson's Highlife for Caliban, Gloria Naylor's Mama Day and Michelle Cliff's No Telephone to Heaven, we seek to understand how postcolonial, feminist and postmodern rewritings of The Tempest transpose its language and characters into critiques of colonialism, nationhood, race, gender and difference.

Topic: Cannibals, Witches & Virgins.