College Seminar (101-6-22)
Topic
Science Fiction & Detective Literature in the Glob
Instructors
Laura Rebecca Brueck
847/467-4746
1880 Campus Drive, Kresge Hall, Office 4-427
Office Hours: Varies quarter to quarter, please check with instructor.
Meeting Info
Shepard Hall Classroom B05: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
NOTE: This class is open only to first-year undergraduates selected to be Kaplan Humanities Scholars.
Science Fiction and Detective Literature: Popular Genres in the Global South
Science fiction and detective literature are genres whose formulaic nature has often been derided or ignored by literary critics. Yet the very formal structures of these genres may be part of the key to their popularity and increasing ubiquitousness. Emerging in England in the nineteenth century from, in part, an urban unease brought on by the colonial encounter, the detective novel form was quickly "translated" back into colonized territories, soon becoming one of the most truly transnational literary genres in the world. Similarly, while science fiction's early narratives drew from the scenarios and power dynamics of the colonial encounter, it has more recently become a space from which to contest official histories as well as posit decolonial futures. Focusing on the spaces of the Global South, late colonial and postcolonial South Asia and (post)colonial Latin America in particular, this course will trace how and why these popular genres have emerged as a mode of narration with which to confront political and social transformations and contemporary crises.
Possible outings
Detective fiction writing workshop
Attend a play at Otherworld Theatre, Chicago's theatre dedicated exclusively to science fiction and fantasy.
A guided tour of sites of some of Chicago's most famous crimes/mysteries
Film screenings
Class Materials (Suggested)
Sample texts may include:
Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes. (selections)
G. Wells, War of the Worlds.
Jorge Luis Borges, "The Garden of Forking Paths," "Death and the Compass," "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"
Leonardo Padura, Havana Red. (1997) (plus Netflix TV adaptation)
Santiago Roncagliolo, Red April (2006)
Santiago Gamboa, The Night Will Be Long (2019)
Eduardo Urzaiz, Eugenia: A Fictional Sketch of Future Customs (1919)
Yoss, A Planet for Rent (2001)
Samantha Schweblin, Fever Dream (2015)
Rita Indiana Hernández, Tentacle (2015)
Sleep Dealer. (Dir., Alex Rivera)
Rokeya Hossain, Sultana's Dream (1905)
Kamala Sathianadhan, Detective Janaki (1933)
Sharadindu Bandhopadhyay, Byomkesh Bakshi (selections)
Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (Dir. Dibakar Banerjee, 2015)
Haseen Dillruba (Dir. Vinil Matthew, 2021)
Tabish Khair, The Thing About Thugs (2012)
Vikram Chandra, Sacred Games (2006) (selections, plus Netflix TV adaptation)
Ibn-e-Safi, selections from Jasusi Duniya series (1950-1980)
Satyajit Ray, selected short stories and films from Feluda series (beg. 1965)
Class Notes
NOTE: This class is open only to first-year undergraduates selected to be Kaplan Humanities Scholars.
Class Attributes
WCAS College Seminar
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for First Year & Sophomore only
Add Consent: Department Consent Required
Drop Consent: Department Consent Required