English 120 - Representing the Caribbean

Ambreen Hai

MW 1:10-2:30 p.m.

Since the "discovery" of the New World, how have Europeans represented the Caribbean, and for what purposes?  More recently, how have writers from the Caribbean tried to re-present their lands and peoples?  Why does it matter who represents a history or a region, and for whom?  This course will examine the history and politics of the representation and construction of the Caribbean in both colonial and postcolonial texts written in English.  It will thus explore how, over time, writers have addressed the complex issues of travel, cultural encounter, colonialism, slavery, and more recently, the political, psychic and cultural aftermath of such histories.  An ongoing concern will be how literature both founds and confounds assumptions about race, gender and identity, how it both reflects and participates in the production of cultural ideologies.  Together with the basic techniques of critical close reading, our approach to all our texts will be based upon reading both with and against the grain.

The sequence of readings will be divided into roughly three units, each of which will conclude with a short paper, often written over a series of drafts.  The short papers will emphasize the construction of a clear argument, based upon a coherent thesis, well-selected evidence, and insightful close reading.  The first unit will look at colonial texts such as The Tempest and Oroonoko, and compare them with an early counter narrative of the Atlantic slave trade, The Life of Olaudeh Equiano.  The second unit will compare a 19th century novel, Jane Eyre, against its 20th C. Caribbean "revision," Wide Sargasso Sea.  We will conclude with some 20th century postcolonial texts by writers such as Merle Hodge, C.L.R. James, Jamaica Kincaid, and Earl Lovelace.  From time to time, we will also include additional materials to augment our discussions, such as visual representations in art, film, and perhaps even some tourist ads.

Course requirements: six biweekly response papers (1-2 pages, double-spaced), three short papers (4-6 pages), regular attendance and active class participation.