ENLT 206: Coming of Age



Student Introduction:

Interview your neighbors and be ready to report someone else’s:
-    name
-    major
-    favorite travels



Introduction to World Literature


What is the “coming of age” experience after 1945, which marked the end of several global atrocities (the Atom Bomb, the Holocaust) and the beginning of new revolutions for individuals, communities, and nations? How does fiction from East and West represent these changes? In this introduction to World Literature course, we will read books in pairs (from a Western and non-Western perspective) on the aftermath of World War II; the postcolonial experience and the revolutions of the 1960s; and magical realism. Literature from Africa, Europe, East Asia, and South America--including a few Nobel Prize winners, Kenzaburo Oe, Pablo Neruda, and Gabriel García Márquez (One Hundred Years of Solitude)—will help students appreciate the way literature reflects and shapes global issues.  


1c (other literature); 3: genre (fiction); 4a (multinational); 4e (women writers); GER 1983/2002: F1 (World Literature)


UNIT I: Post-WWII (the Atom Bomb)


1.    Oe

2.    Duras


UNIT II: Postcolonial / Gender


3.    Ba


4.    Churchill


UNIT III: Magical Realism


5.    Marquez


6.    Murakami



Requirements:


# Participation, attendance, and discussion questions--15%

# Midterm Exam--30%

# Formal Writing Project--30%

# Final Exam--25%


Course Objectives:


Satisfies--1c (other literature); 3: genre (fiction); 4a (multinational); 4e (women writers); GER 1983/2002: F1 (World Literature)


-    to appreciate the interconnectedness of 20th-century world literature (comparative literature)

-    to deepen knowledge about global politics and culture and their centrality to literature (global studies)

-    to learn to analyze literary elements in short stories, novels, and dramas (literary criticism)

- to consider any differences and similarities between the way male and female writers represent experiences (gendered readings)

-    to synthesize writers’ representation of difference, or the relationship between East and West, woman and man, black and white (ethnic studies)


Coming of Age:


Dictionary definitions: 1) reaching maturity, respectability, or prominence; 2) losing one's virginity; also written coming-of-age

Examples of coming-of-age stories: Usually found in young adult literature (Fairy tales, Catcher in the Rye, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Their Eyes Were Watching God)

Main question we address:

In what ways does the coming-of-age story depict the unspeakable 

of countries’ struggles to mature in the post-WWII era?


Review of Week 1

Paul Celan, "Death Fugue," and future reading/writing assignments:

In what ways does the coming-of-age story depict the unspeakable 

of countries’ struggles to mature in the post-WWII era?



Skills students will sharpen over semester:


- Deductive reasoning

- Becoming producers, not just consumers, of knowledge

- Introduction to Literary Analysis: Symbols, Motifs, Narrative Structure, Narrative Voice

- “The Crazy Iris” by Masuji Ibuse (narrator = Masu)


STUDENT QUESTIONS


1.    Why does he want to find his aunt so badly?

2.    What do Oyamada’s experiences on the trolley and in the factory

reflect about Japan and its role in the war? What does Ichikawa’s death

mean?


How does going through puberty influence the narrator’s

experiences (65)?


3.    Why does Oyamada say he loves his teacher and his wife?

What is the nature of their relationship?


4.    How much of his perception really happens (69)? How is the narrator isolated, and how does that isolation play out in the story? (75 + 78)

5.    What is meant by “black rain” (75)? How does it relate to

“black milk”?


6.    What does the shift in Oyamada’s level of curiosity on p. 81 mean?

7.    What does the imagery in the last paragraph of the story mean?

What role do “ashes have throughout the story?

“Human Ashes” by Katsuzo Oda (narrator = Oyamada)

- The narrator’s isolation and youth


- Coming of Age story: Confusion and stirring feelings about sexuality parallel his confusion about the bomb


- Emotional detachment from surroundings and catastrophic events

>> How do any of these details impact your reading of the short story in question?

Sample Midterm Questions:

Goal of ENLT 206: World Literature—Coming of Age:

- to understand and appreciate the interconnected nature of world literatures
- In what ways does a combined Western/non-Western perspective change the way we read and understand cultural, political, and literary issues? (ENLT 207: World Literature—Tradition and Challenge covers differences in Western/non-Western literature.)
- to develop sophisticated approaches to reading world literature, both individually and as a genre

- In his introduction to The Crazy Iris, editor Kenzaburo Oe writes that his “anthology of A-bomb short stories is an effort to make the original A-Bomb experiences a part of the shared experiences of peoples throughout the world” (10). In what specific ways does a short story we read succeed in this endeavor? Why or why not? What hurdles must the Western reader overcome to make the A-Bomb truly a “shared” experience (e.g., language barrier, cultural differences, narrative techniques such as realism and detachment, etc.)?

- Compare two narratives about the A-Bomb. What are their common traits? What do their differences suggest?

- Why do love and sexuality intersect with narratives centering on destruction? What do coming of age stories offer writers and readers of the A-Bomb?

- How do male Japanese writers (Ibuse and Oda) narrate their experiences with the A-Bomb differently than female writers (Sata and Hayashi)? Is the experience of the A-Bomb “gendered”?

How does reading “Human Ashes” from a modern Western perspective influence its impact? The volunteer to whom Oyamada speaks calls the bombing “the tyranny of human beings who had no fear of God” (78); many victims believe that the rain is an American gasoline attack (75). How can a Western audience explain or justify the atomic bomb when confronted with this point of view?

Review


Women Writers on A-Bomb:

-    anonymous characters and narrators

-    long-term effects on sexuality, bodies, and emotions

-    focused on emotions, not events

-    written from a mature perspective

-    community of voices

-    coming of age interrupted / delayed?
Review of L. 6

1.    Why does she refer to her past love as “you” when telling her
 story to the Japanese man?

2.    Why is the Japanese man happy he’s the first to hear her story?
Why didn’t she tell her husband?

3.    Why are they having an affair if they’re happily married?
4.    How can she be unfaithful if the German soldier is dead (Pt. 5)?
5.    What does the imagery of the dark and light skin tones mean
in the beginning?

6.    If this is about Hiroshima, why is it mostly about
the Frenchwoman’s past? Why do we learn her name (Riva)?

7. How is this similar to any of the stories we read in the Crazy Iris?

Woman = West, sleeps with the enemy, actress playing a nurse, and has "doubtful morals" (35, 36)

Man = East, architect, a symbol for our lack of knowledge
about Japan and Hiroshima

Motifs similar to other works:

- forbidden love ("Human Ashes," Romeo and Juliet, Scarlet Song)

- How do you act under and occuption?

- Shame

Meaning of Allegory in Hiroshima Mon Amour:

- Futility of memorializing tragedy

- Inevitability of forgetting, oblivion, and indifference to the survivors of tragedy

Scarlet Song, Day 1

Mireille
 Ousmane
Parents / Respect for elders
 no mutual respect
 deep respect and sacrifice
Community and tradition
 separated from her culture (20); "fight[s" to get her way (21; "hatred of convention" (43)
 adheres to "collective existence" (36)

Student Questions

1.    What’s the purpose of the flashback on p. 118?

2.    What does Ouleymatou represent for Ousmane? (cf. 121)
Will he be satisfied with her (127)?
Why does he go outside his race in the first place(122)?

3.    Is Ouleymatou trying to take financial advantage
of Ousmane, or is she really in love with him?
Why is she with him (tradition)?

4.    Did Ousmane really love Mireille, or was he driven by a need
to “assert himself” (123)?

5.    When does Ousmane really become a man? Or does he?
6.    When was Mireille’s coming of age?


Ousmane's coming of age? -- Falling in love with Ouleymatou, search for the self + confusion

Has Mireille come of age yet? -- Falling in love with Ousmane, breaking with her parents

>> Midterm Review (Blackboard / Course Documents)

Cloud 9:

Points out ideals of masculinity and femininity

Feminine:
- serves husband
- delicate, quiet, sensitive
- devoted mother

Masculine:
- not female
- brave
- dominant
- violent
- being an "explorer"

Colonialism / Sexuality
- dominance
- struggle to express identity


1.    Why is Mrs. Saunders compared to the “dark” continent?
If Clive represents England, what do his sexual actions toward
Mrs. Saunders represent (if she represents Africa)?

2.    What does Mrs. Saunders’ comment on p. 16 mean?
3.    Why does Edward say he doesn’t like his father on p.30?

4.    What is Churchill trying to convey with
the relationship of Harry and Edward? 

5.    Why does Joshua taunt Edward’s sexuality when he
 has sex with men too?

6.    Why does Joshua deny his creation story? Why does Joshua
deny his people?

7.    Why are the women punished for their desires, whereas
Clive and Harry are not?

One Hundred Years:


•    Circular (as opposed to linear) time frame of narrative

•    Genre: novel; epic family romance; fantasy/supernatural

•    3 generations of José Aracadio/Aureliano Buendías


-    Solitude:


•    not necessarily a negative mode (but can be)

•    Macondo established in obscurity in order to leave behind the memory of murder.

•    Solitude = detachment from outside reality


•    Moments of magical realism / solitude: the “plague of insomnia”

•    What underlying emotions / taboos do these events attempt to communicate?


The Writing Project helps to answer many questions about Marquez’s text that are not easily answered, such as: What is magical realism? How does the world of Macondo resemble (or not) Latin and South American experiences? What perspectives do literary critics provide about this intriguing novel?


-    Oral component graded on a Pass / Not Pass basis

-    Minus 20 points off of written portion if you don’t do it

-    Adds points to your participation if you do it well

-    Group production suggested in order to ease the stress of oral presentation and in order to learn collaborative teamwork skills

-    A way to provide a paper trail for your Writing Portfolio (e.g. danger of plagiarism)

-    Share a unique perspective of Marquez’s work with classmates

-    Present information about an aspect of One Hundred Years of Solitude in a meaningful way

-    You can also do a ‘provocation’ of group discussion: write a one-page interpretation of the work (from the perspective of your research topic) and solicit students’ opinions and responses

Library Tutorial


Carol Nurse


•    Reference 655-4291

•    Circulation 655-4288


Reference / 1st floor:


-    Look under Garcia Marquez, not Marquez!

-    World Literature and Its Times (REF PQ 7081 .M625 1999)

-    Hispanic Writers (REF PQ7081.A1 H48 1991)

-    Latin American Literature in the 20th Century (REF PQ 7081 .L36 1986)

-    Latin American Writers (REF PQ7081.A1 L37 1989)

-    Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature (REF PQ 7081 .A1 E53)

-    Concise Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature (REF PQ 7081 .A1 C66 2000)

- Contemporary Literary Criticism (REF PN771 .C59)

- Masterpieces of Latino Literature (REF PQ7081.A1 M29 1994)

- South American Handbook ( REF F1401 .S71 2006; F1401 .S71 2007 in Stacks?)



Searching for books:


-    Catalogue browse

-    JSTOR advanced search: all of these [solitude]; exact [ggm]; article only

-    Project Muse : all fields except text

-    Country Watch (Colombia)

STUDENT QUESTIONS:

1.    What problems does modern progress bring to
the town of Macondo? Why do Jose Arcadio Buendia
and Aureliano turn to solitude in response to these changes? (Stephanie)

2.    What does the insomnia plague mean? (many)

3.    Why does Rebecca arrive? (many) Does her arrival have anything to do with colonialism? What's the significance of her eating earth? (Faith)

4.    What does Aureliano’s coming of age on p. 43 mean? (Monica)
How might we read the sexual tensions in the novel,
such as Remedios? (Faith)


Party Game—

Play 20 questions to find out which character you are (yes or no answers only). You are only allowed to ask point-blank if you are a certain character 3 times. Sit down when you find out your identity and prepare to tell the class 3 important facts about your character and ways to identify this character in the text. The purpose of this exercise is to help familiarize you with different names and stories in the novel.

Sample Questions:
-    Am I a Buendía?

- Was I born in the Buendía household?
-    Am I still alive?
-    Am I a man?
-    Do I still live in Macondo?

There may be more than one of these characters on the floor at the same time:

José Arcadio Buendía (Sr.), Melquíades, Úrsula Iguarán, Aureliano Buendía

Rebeca, José Arcadio (Jr.), Macondo, Pilar Tenera, Amaranta, Arcadio, Remedios

Pietro Crespi, Amparo, Father Nicanor

Review:


Insomnia Plague
- Brought with Rebeca and identified by Indians

Might mean:

- outsiders have no knowledge of past
- symbol of Macondo (and Colombia's) solitude
- brings writing to Macondo
- Modernization
Review of L. 22

-    Banana massacre / fate of Meme and her baby

-    Both are hushed up and “forgotten”

-    Americans bring “banana plague” to Macondo
and Fernanda brings Old World piety to Buendía household



In his book, What is World Literature? (Princeton: Princeton UP, 2003), David Damrosch writes:

World literature is thus always as much about the host culture’s
values and needs as it is about a work’s source culture; hence it
is a double refraction, one that can be described through the figure
of the ellipse, with the source and host cultures providing the two
foci that generate the elliptical space within which a work lives a
world literature, connected to both cultures, circumscribed by neither
alone (283).

If we envision both sides of the ellipse in One Hundred Years
 of Solitude as Colombia and the United States (with García Márquez
 linking both in his writing-in-residence of Mexico), what is the author
saying to political representatives from these two countries?
How does García Márquez offer a view of Latin America that is simultaneously palatable to North and South American readers?

Free Write: (10 min.)

What moral is Garcia Marquez trying to get across to readers in

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"? Is the use of magical

realism (an angel with bad hygiene) integral to represent such moral lessons?






Course Objectives:


Satisfies--1c (other literature); 3: genre (fiction); 4a (multinational); 4e (women writers); GER 1983/2002: F1 (World Literature)


-    to appreciate the interconnectedness of 20th-century world literature (comparative literature)

-    to deepen knowledge about global politics and culture and their centrality to literature (global studies)

-    to learn to analyze literary elements in short stories, novels, and dramas (literary criticism)

- to consider any differences and similarities between the way male and female writers represent experiences (gendered readings)

-    to synthesize writers’ representation of difference, or the relationship between East and West, woman and man, black and white (ethnic studies)



Haruki Murakami, "The Dancing Dwarf." Trans. Jay Rubin. The Elephant Vanishes: Stories. New York: Vintage, 1994. 242-65.


1. In what ways does Murakami clearly speak to a Western, and not a Japanese, audience?


2. In what ways does “The Dancing Dwarf” utilize magical realism?


3. What was the revolution that occurred in the past? What is the current political landscape?


4. What’s the effect of the dwarf’s dancing? What is the dwarf’s connection to the revolution?


5. What is the moral, if any, of “The Dancing Dwarf”?