Jonathan P. Eburne

 

Comparative Literature 101U

Honors Course in Race and Gender in World Literature:

ŇDown and Out in Paris and LondonÓ

 

MW 11:15- 12:05 +        306 Burrowes

 

Jonathan P. Eburne

Email: jpe11@psu.edu                                                                        Office Hours:

Mailbox: 311 Burrowes                                                                      M 2-3; W 12:15- 1:15 

Office: 424 N. Burrowes                                                                    Th 11-noon; and by appt.

 

Course Description

This honors seminar in literature and criticism will examine modernist literature about London and Paris written by authors who express their relationship to the modern city as one of exile.  What does it mean to be Ňdown and outÓ in, or in relation to, these two major cities and centers of colonial power?  What do the conditions of exile and alienation reveal about the way literary texts respond to changing ideas about racial identity, racial belonging, and racism?  How do explorations of cafŽs, restaurants, tenement houses, and underworld spaces inform us about changing sexual practices and developing ideas about gender? 

In addition to reading works of experimental and popular literature, we will also discuss related readings in literary criticism and theory that highlight the moral, psychological, and political interests guiding our analysis.  Our discussions of race, gender, sexuality, impersonation, violence, and identity will draw from both literary and critical sources; one of the major components of this course will involve attending a series of scholarly lectures in the Comparative Literature, French, German, and English departments that extend our own class discussion into the broader realm of current academic scholarship. 

Required Texts (available at the HUB bookstore or through Amazon.com)

1.  George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London. Harvest Books,  ISBN: 015626224X

2.  Marie Belloc Lowndes, The Lodger. Academy Chicago Publishers; ISBN: 0897332997

3.  Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Dover Publications; ISBN: 0486270726

4.  E. Phillips Oppenheim, The Great Impersonation. Echo Library ISBN: 140680150X

5.  Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber. Penguin  ISBN: 014017821X

6.  Jean Rhys, Good Morning, Midnight. W. W. Norton & Company ISBN: 0393303942

7.  Violette Leduc, The Bastard.  Dalkey Archive Press; ISBN: 1564782891

8.  AimŽ CŽsaire, Notebook for a Return to the Native Land.  Wesleyan UP ISBN: 0819564524

9.  Claude McKay, Banjo. Harvest Books ISBN: 0156106752