E 316K: Masterworks of Literature: World

Instructor: Brian Doherty
Parlin 326 471-8798
Office Hours: M: 2-3:30/ Th: 11:30-1

Course Description: There will be three historical foci: Modernity and Modernism; Postwar and Postcolonial Literature; and Contemporary World Literature. We will examine how history transforms literary values and the impact of individual authors on their literary descendants. Students should acquire a solid idea of what it is that constitutes modernism in literature, as well as an understanding of such terms as postmodernism, postcolonialism, Marxism, realism, etc. It is hoped that from this wide variety of modern and contemporary authors, students will construct the foundation for a lifetime of substantive and enriching literature.

Texts/Readings: The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Third Edition, Volume F. Martin Puchner, general editor.
Student will be required to purchase a selected text from the work of this year’s Nobel Prize winner.
Occasionally, a pdf file will be made available on the Blackboard site for the course.

Grading Policy, Assignments:

Test #1 (On Modernity and Modernism) 10/1. 20%
Essay Test (take home). (On texts from Postwar writing) (3-4 pages) 11/5. 25%
Final Exam. (On texts from 2nd and 3rd section of course) 12/13. 35%
TA Section Participation 15%
Live World Literary Culture Review (2-3 pages) 5%

Attendance is required in discussion sections. Students may miss up to 3 sessions with no grade penalty. For each class missed beyond 3, there will be a 30 point deduction from your grade for the discussion section.

Plus and minus grades will be used in the class. A = 93-100; A- = 90-92.9; B + = 88-89.9; B = 83=87.9; B- = 80-82.9; C+ = 78-79.9; C = 73-77.9; C- = 70-72.9; D = 65-69.9. Below 65 = F.

Please be aware of University policies and services for students with disabilities: http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/
Please be aware of the University Standard for Academic Integrity: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php

Schedule of Readings/ Assignments:

August 29: Class Begins. Introductions of TA's. Go over syllabus, grading policy. A reading of one romantic poem. Announcement of parody contest for Friday.
August 31: Backgrounds of modernism, with reference to The Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Realism. Announcement of winner of the parody contest.

September 5: Themes in literary modernism. T.S. Eliot. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." (537-45)
September 7: A Classic of Literary Modernism. Thomas Mann. Death in Venice. (84-95).

September 10: *Thomas Mann. Death in Venice. (95-122).
September 12: Thomas Mann. Death in Venice. (122-conclusion).
September 14: Another kind of modernist classic. Franz Kafka, "The Metamorphosis." (207-220).

September 17: Franz Kafka, "The Metamorphosis." (220-conclusion).
September 19: Just when you thought it couldn't get any stranger. . . . Luigi Pirandello. Six Characters in Search of an Author. (260-80)
September 21: Luigi Pirandello. Six Characters in Search of an Author. (280-conclusion)

September 24: Global Modernism. Lu Xun. (242-260).
September 26: Lao She, "An Old and Established Name," and Ch'ae Man-Sik, "My Innocent Uncle." (409-30).
September 28: Akutagawa Ryunosuke. "In a Bamboo Grove" (303-11). Kawabata Yasunari. "The Izu Dancer" (324-36).

October 1: Test Number One. Terminology. History of the development of modernism. Author biographies. Text plot points and themes. Test will be a combination of multiple choice, fill in the blank, and short answer.
October 3: Postwar Writing and Writers. Africa and After. Doris Lessing,"“The Old Chief Mshlanga" (716-27). Albert Camus, "The Guest."
October 5: A visit from the Actor from the London Stage. Staging Lessin'’s "The Old Chief Mshlanga."

October 8: Chinua Achebe. "My Innocent Uncle" (825-30). Niyi Osundare. Selections (1199-2008). Ngugi wa Thiong'o. "Wedding at the Cross" (1037-49).
October 10: Ama Ata Aidoo. "Two Sisters" (993-1004). Bessie Head. "The Deep River" (1098-1104).
October 12: *Aimè Cèsaire. Selections from Notebook of a Return to the Native Land.

October 15: North Africa and the Arab World. Tayeb Salih. "The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid" (815-825) .
October 17: Naguib Mahfouz. "Zaabalawi" (882-892).
October 19: Nawal el Saadawi. "In Camera" (1104-1115). Hanan Al-Shaykh. "The Woman's Swimming Pool" (1165-72).

October 22: The Modern Middle East. Mahmoud Darwish. "Identity Card" (882-92). Yehuda Amichai. (933-34, intro. Also "God has Pity on Kidergarten Children" through "An Arab Shepherd is Serching for his Goat on Mount Zion").
October 24: From India. Premchand. "The Road to Salvation." (311-322).
October 26: Saadat Hasan Manto. "Toba Tek Singh" (727-35). "The Black Shalwar" (Posted on Blackboard).

October 29: Mahasweta Devi. "Giribala" (1147-65). Essay prompts available for essay due on November 5.
October 31: V.S. Naipaul. "One Out of Many" (1004-29)
November 2: Salman Rushdie. "The Perforated Sheet" (1129-44).

November 5: Essay due at classtime.
November 7: * Post-war writing. Europe. Anna Akhmatova. "Requiem" (565-75).
November 9: Tadeusz Borowski. "This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen" (693-708). Paul Celan. "Deathfugue" (708-11).

November 12: Voices en español. Jorge Luis Borges. "The Garden of Forking Paths" (487-97).
November 14: Julio Cortázar. "House Taken Over" (687-93). Gabriel Garcia-Marquez. "Death Constant Beyond Love" (986-93).
November 16: Junot Díaz. "Drown" (1240-49). Roberto Bolano. "Sensini" (1249-60).

November 19: Introducing Mo Yan.  “The Old Gun” (1172-88). 
November 21: A World Literary Celebration of Thanksgiving.

November 26: Mo Yan. The Garlic Ballads. Chapters 1-3.
November 28: *Mo Yan. The Garlic Ballads. Chapters 4-8.
November 30: Mo Yan. The Garlic Ballads. Chapters 9-14.

December 3: Mo Yan. The Garlic Ballads. Chapters 14-18.
December 5: Mo Yan. The Garlic Ballads. To conclusion.
December 7: Last class day. Ceremonial bestowal of awards. A sermon about the value of literature as a life practice. Student of the year.

Final Exam on Thursday, December 13, 2:00-5:00 pm.