ENGL 224-001
World Literature in English
Tara Lee
Term 1
MWF, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM
Magic, Border Crossing, and Postcolonial Imaginings
This course delves into the wonder, pain, and possibilities of storytelling in works set in Australia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Jamaica, and India, as well as in spaces of transit and transformation. Each of these locations embody complex legacies and continuances of colonialism, racism, migration, and fraught conflict. We will read works of fiction (Taboo by Kim Scott, House of Stone by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma, Augustown by Kei Miller, Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh, and The Theory of Flight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu) that consider the place of intense personal and collective history in the present, as well as the potential for reconfigured future paths. The use of magic realism, myth, and speculative fantasy will take us on a journey to a variety of worlds, where borders blur and new voices and agencies emerge. Ghosts from the past and their lingering material traces will haunt our discussions of the works even as the shape of new ways of being become clearer.
As the Faculty of Arts has determined that all B.A. courses will be offered online in Fall 2020, this course will use a combination of asynchronous (recorded/text/online) materials and synchronous (real-time) classes in our designated timeslot.
