ENGL 43325 - Seminar: Literature of British Empire

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

We still have to ask how a little island nation managed to dominate, in one sense or another, a large proportion of the civilized world, embracing Africa, the Middle East, the West Indies, Australia, and India/South Asia. This seminar will address that big question and challenge some of our preconceptions about this great British power. But we will do so mainly through literary works that reveal how compelling the little stories were, as well. How, and for whom, was the empire a career? A calamity? A maker and breaker of families and friendships? By reading the literature of the British empire, we can begin to gain a nuanced, textured sense of these issues and these lives. Students will choose from a great array of research projects drawing from various critical methodologies and interests: the empire showcases problems of law, politics, gender relations, racial and interracial relations, and much more. We will strive to gain a global picture of the British empire, but our emphasis will go to works concerning British India. Literary readings include Wilkie Collins's Moonstone, H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines, several works by Rudyard Kipling, E.M. Forster's Passage to India, and George Orwell's Burmese Days. We will encounter lesser-known but important writers (such as Sara Jeanette Duncan and Flora Annie Steel). We will also study at least one Indian film, Lagaan, which shows how modern-day Indian cinema represents the British empire from a century earlier (and teaches us how the game Cricket works!). Assignments include a short paper a longer research paper with preliminary exercises.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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