CMPL 203 - Polycentric Modernism

This course may also count for the major in (consult the program or department major requirements) :
This course may count toward the major in English and Cinema Studies.
Semester Offered: Second Semester
Full Course
Credits: 4 Credits
Attribute: 4HU, CD

It is often said that Modernism ends by the mid-20^th century, but this course challenges that periodization, for isn’t it Eurocentric to announce the end of modernism just as postcolonial countries start exploring their own modernities? Comparing Western and (post-)colonial literatures from Herman Hesse and Ingmar Bergman to Waguih Ghaly and Ousmane Sembène, from Virginia Woolf to Jamaica Kincaid, and Marguerite Duras to Clarice Lispector, we will problematize the cartography of modernism, explore the role of gender, and examine how (post-)colonial aesthetics rewrite political and cultural histories to adapt to the inevitable pluralities of our hybrid world.
Enrollment Limit: 25
Instructor: J. Assaad