English M6240 Syllabus

English 6240 Seminar in American Literature -- Global Contemporary Fiction

Syllabus, Fall 2016

This reading schedule (as well as the section titles) is meant to be suggestive only. Take a plunge when you sign up for your talks/seminar facilitation, and please clarify the focus of your presentation with me in advance. I will then also direct you (after you have done your own search) to additional specific sources, if necessary. All essay materials listed below are available online or on ereserve. Remember, your WRP are due at the beginning of each class! As always, please avail yourselves of CAL PAL, the Contemporary American Literature Pal, as a companion website to this course.

Week 1–2	Introduction: What is postmodern/contemporary/global American literature? How many are there? By Way of a Proposition: Way Chee Dimock, "Literature for the Planet," PMLA 116 (1) 2001: 173-188 Writers on America—15 Reflections, U.S. State Department "Immigrant Fiction/'New American' Fiction -- Worthwhile Categories?" (NYT, 1 July 2014)
Week 3–4	Of MICE and Men: Transitioning and Spying For World Peace Ha Jin, *A Map of Betrayal* Arlif Dirlik, "Literary Identity/Cultural Identity: Being Chinese in the Contemporary World." Ha Jin, "The Art of Fiction," No. 202, Paris Review Ha, Jin. "Exiled to English." In Sinophone Studies: A Critical Reader, edited by Shu-mei Shih, Chien-hsin Tsai and Brian Bernards, 117-124. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013. Michael Wutz , "The Individual versus the State - A Conversation with Ha Jin," Weber, 31. vol. 2, Spring/Summer 2015, 4-16. Of interest: - Ian Buruma, Essays by Han Han, the Chinese Blogger and Media Superstar (NYT, 1 Sept 2016) - Michiko Kakutani, Le Carré , The Con Man's Son: Writer, Liar, Survivor, Spy (NYT, 1 Sept 2016) Betrayal I __________________________ Betrayal II ________________________________
Week 5–6	Radicalism Abroad & Nation Building: Naxalism, Ecology, and the Burden of Migration Jhumpa Lahiri, The Lowland Hurst Artist in Residence, Fall 2016, Cristina Garcia (27 Sept 2016), 5:30-7:30 TBA JL official site, including interviews and Readers' Guide The Anthropocene I, II, III Dipesh Chakrabarty, "The Climate of History: Four Theses," New Literary History 35, 2 (2009): 197-222. ---. "Postcolonial Studies and the Challenge of Climate Change," New Literary History 43, 1 (2012): 1-18. Reviews of The Lowland I, II, III, IV Michael Pollan, "The Intelligent Plant," The New Yorker, 23 Dec 2013 Reviews of In Other Words I, II (February 2015) The Lowland - Focus Questions Mira Nair, The Namesake (2007, film screening, time permitting) Lowland I ___________________________ Lowland II ________________________________ Of interest: Why Do So Many Contemporary American Writers Send their Characters Abroad?
Week 7–9	Radicalism at Home & Nation Building: Weather Underground and the Burden of History Russell Banks, The Darling Weather Underground Evan Carton, "White Boy (American Hunger) and the Angel of History: Russell Banks's Identity Knowledge," American Literary History, 27 (4), 2015: 741-767. Russell Banks, H & I, The 2004 PEN/Hemingway Prize Speech, Agni 60 Robert Birnbaum, Identity Theory Interview with Russell Banks, on The Darling Darling I _______________________________ Darling II _______________________________
Week 10–11	Fluid Capital - Fluid Borders? American Literature with Enormous Wings Karen Tei Yamashita, *Tropic of Orange* Kandice Chuh, "Of Hemispheres and Other Spheres: Navigating Karen Tei Yamashita's Literary World," ALH 18 (3), 2006: 618-637. Min Hyuong Song, "Becoming Planetary," ALH 23 (3), 2011: 555-573. Of peripheral interest: Coke & Orange Juice :) Film screening: Edward Burtynsky, Manufactured Landscapes I, II (selections TBA) Orange I _____________________________ Orange II ________________________________ Of Interest - Man Booker Prize Goes to American for First Time -- Paul Beatty - Lucia Perillo, Poet Whose Illness Shaped Her Poetry, Dies at 58


Week 12–13	Historical Caesura and the American Trauma Don DeLillo, Falling Man "After the Unthinkable: How 9/11 changed fiction," The Economist, 2 Sept 2011 Richard Drew's 9/11 Photography, The Falling Man You Tube, 9/11 Falling Man Documentary Jim Junod, "The Falling Man," Esquire, 9/2003 Ann Keniston and Jeanne Follansbee Quinn, Ed., Literature After 9/11 (selections TBA) "Intensity of a Plot," Interview with Don DeLillo, Guernica, 17 July 2007 Man I ___________________________ Man II ___________________________ Of interest: - Ha Jin, The Boat Rocker (2016) - James Welch: Five Fast Fact You Need to Know, Google: James Welch's 76th Birthday
Week 14–15	Literature, Genetics, Cognition, and Everything Else Richard Powers, Generosity and select essays/interviews in CALPAL Cognitive Science I, Cognitive Science II Marco Roth, The Rise of the Neuronovel," n+1, 8, Fall 2009 James Wood, "Brain Drain - The Scientific Fictions of Richard Powers," The New Yorker, 5 Oct 2009 Joseph Carroll, "Biology and Poststructuralism" ---, Joseph Caroll, "The Deep Structure of Literary Representations" Andrew Niccol, Gattaca, or Gilles Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers (TBA, time permitting) Richard Powers, "How to Speak a Book," NYT, 7 Jan 08 Of interest: What's Wrong With Literary Studies? Generosity I ______________________ Generosity II ________________________________ * Essay hard copy due date: Tue, 6 December 2016 * Please consult the Editing Checklist in the Toolbox for essential pointers regarding your essay.
Week 16	Student Project Thumbnails, Artificial Summary & Conclusion