LTEN 178/ETHN168: Comparative Ethnic Literature: Literary Responses to Collective Trauma (922634/9243610)
MWF 11:00-11:50 pm WLH 2115
Lisa Lampert-Weissig, Literature Office: Literature 347 (third floor lit. bldg.)
llampert@ucsd.edu; course website at www.medievallit.org
Primary Readings:
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Enemies, a Love Story (1972) (Sonim, di Geshichte fun a Liebe,
first published serially in The Forward/פֿאָרווערטס/Forverts), 1966)
Octavia Butler, Kindred (1979)
Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987)
August Wilson, The Piano Lesson (1990)
Art Spiegelman, Maus I and II (1991)
Louis Owens, Bone Game (1996)
Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated (2002)
lê thi diem thúy, The Gangster We are All Looking For (2003)
“Language can never 'pin down' slavery, genocide, war. Nor should it yearn for the arrogance to be able to do so. Its force, its felicity, is in its reach toward the ineffable”--
Toni Morrison
Schedule of Readings: This is a tentative schedule. Additional secondary readings may be added to enhance discussion as needed.
Week One:
Monday: Introduction
Wed. and Friday: Readings by Morrison, Gordon and Hirsch. Study questions
Week Two: No class on Monday, MLK Jr. holiday
I.B. Singer: Enemies Study questions
Week Three: No class on Friday, Jan. 26. Quiz on Maus in “take home” form. Study and quiz questions.
Art Spiegelman, Maus I and II
Week Four:
Art Spiegelman, Maus I and II
J.S. Foer, Everything is Illuminated
Week Five:
Octavia Butler, Kindred
Week Six:
Toni Morrison, Beloved
Week Seven: No class Monday, President’s Day.
August Wilson, The Piano Lesson
Week Eight:
Louis Owens, Bone Game
Week Nine:
lê thi diem thúy, The Gangster We are All Looking For (2003)
Week Ten: Spill over and Review