ENGL4695: Topics in Postcolonial Lit (62665)

McClung, James

TR 11:10 AM

Park Hall 0144

Topics in Postcolonial Literature—Exploring Postcolonial Worlds: Science Fiction and Postcolonial Identity

Tentative Course Description:

The 20th century postcolonial British and American novels and the science and speculative fiction of Britain and America from the same period share similar trajectories. The analyses of cultural identities, (im)emigration and relocation, as well as the redefinition of historical narrative in the context of discoveries and encounters with an alien, cultural, or simply un-relatable ‘other’ are often at the very heart of both science fiction and postcolonial studies. Far from identifying this as simple coincidence or convergence, this course will aim to describe and investigate the particular ability of science and speculative fiction works and authors to address traditional postcolonial themes in provocative and creative ways, sometimes freeing the discussions from the intensely political and therefore agenda-driven confines of more ‘traditional’ postcolonial works. Students will have the opportunity to explore both fiction and film in addition to secondary materials relative in both direct and indirect ways to the composition and reception of these works and will explore the rise of popular science fiction in Britain and the US and the role this fiction plays in the multi-cultural movements of the 20th century.

Some of the questions we will ask in this course:

  • What is postcolonial studies?
  • What are the reasons for reading ‘postcolonial theory’?
  • What makes a written work ‘postcolonial’? 
  • What is science fiction?
  • Why read science fiction?
  • What makes a science fiction work ‘postcolonial’?
  • What makes science fiction particularly adept at addressing many of the themes of postcolonial studies?
  • Why would an author/filmmaker choose SF as a way of addressing contemporary concerns about cultural disparities, gender disparities, social inequities, and/or race?
  • Can science fiction works effectively address contemporary issues?

 

Sample Texts (final reading list may vary):

  • Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (1932), ISBN: 978-0060850524
  • C. S. Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet (1938), ISBN: 978-0743234900
  • Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood’s End (1953), ISBN: 978-0451457998
  • Phillip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968), ISBN: 978-0345404473
  • Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), ISBN: 978-0441007318
  • Octavia Butler, Mind of My Mind (1977), ISBN: 978-0446361880
  • Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale (1985), ISBN: 978-0385490818
  • Nalo Hopkinson & Uppinder Mehan (Eds.), So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy (2004), ISBN: 978-1551521589
  • China Miéville, Embassytown (2011), ISBN: 978-0345524508