Studies in Postcolonial Literature (365-0-20)
Topic
Secrets, Silence and Lies in Postcolonial Literatu
Instructors
Laura A MacKay Hansen
Meeting Info
University Hall 218: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM
Overview of class
Deadly betrayal, concealed murders, illicit love, double agents and ghost children: postcolonial fiction is filled with dark secrets and disturbing silences. Why are secrets so endemic in postcolonial culture in both the political and the personal realm, and how do they work? Colonial cultures have depended on secrets and lies to maintain order. But what are the implications for a society that remains silent about some of its darkest crimes and traumas? In this seminar, we will read three postcolonial novels set in three very distinct postcolonial cultures—Seamus Deane's Reading in the Dark (Northern Ireland), Arundati Roy's The God of Small Things (India), and Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer (Vietnam and Los Angeles)—in order to think about these questions. We will consider how a legacy of violence—physical, psychic, and sexual—manifests itself when it cannot be spoken out loud. We will discuss how secrets and lies are both specific to place and context, and fit into a pattern of control and silencing that is recognizable across cultures. How can a code of silence create the conditions for traitors, informants, and double agents? How can fiction help to reveal some of these hidden codes and give voice to the silenced? Why might the horror genre be well suited to raising some of these questions? In addition to a close reading of these three novels, we will look at a variety of recent memoirs, graphic novels, films and television episodes to enrich our reading, including: excerpts from Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe, Thi Bui's illustrated memoir The Best We Could Do, selected episodes from the Netflix series The Crown ("Hyde Park Corner," "Tywysog Cymru," and "Hereditary Principles"), Apocalypse Now, the documentary Meet the Patels, and Jordan Peele's film Get Out.
Teaching Method
Class discussion, small-group discussion, peer response
Evaluation Method
Class participation, weekly short writings, one longer paper (5-7 pages)
Class Materials (Required)
Readings:
• Seamus Deane, Reading in the Dark
• Patrick Radden Keefe, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (nonfiction)
• Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
• Thi Bui, The Best We Could Do (graphic novel)
• Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer
Films/Video Include:
• Peter Morgan (dir), The Crown (selected episodes)
• Geeta Vasant Patel and Ravi Patel (dir), Meet the Patels (documentary)
• Francis Ford Coppola (dir), Apocalypse Now (film)
• Jordan Peele (dir), Get Out (film)
Course pack:
Seamus Heaney, "Whatever You Say, Say Nothing" and "Singing School" (poems) *
Anna Burns, Milkman (short excerpt, novel) pp.21-33 (ISBN: 978-1644450000)
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, "The Language of African Literature," from Decolonising the Mind pp. 4-16 (book chapter) (ISBN: 978-0852555019)
Jhumpa Lahiri, "Interpreter of Maladies" from Interpreter of Maladies pp. 43-69 (short story) (ISBN: 9780358213260)
Edward Said, "Chapter One: Overlapping Territories, Intertwined Histories" from Culture and Imperialism pp. 3-19 (book chapter) (ISBN: 978-0679750543)
Toni Morrison, "The Site of Memory" from Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir, pp. 183-201 (essay) (ISBN: 978-0395901502)
Viet Thanh Nguyen, "Just Memory," from Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War pp 4-19 (book chapter) (ISBN: 978-0674979840) (CP)
* The Heaney poems are easy to find online, but "Whatever You Say" is from Field Work (978-0374531393) and "Singing School" is from North (978-0571108138)
Class Notes
Laura MacKay Hansen (BA, University of Michigan; PhD, New York University) specializes in twentieth-century literature with an interest in postcolonial fiction, border spaces, and translation. She has written and taught on the modern and postmodern novel, as well as producing study guides for the Great Books Foundation and Penguin Books on a wide range of writers. She has held teaching positions and fellowships at NYU, Brooklyn College, Beloit College (WI) and the Newberry Library, and has worked in academic publishing at the University of Chicago Press.
Class Attributes
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area