Reading Literature: Disaster

In this course we will learn how to understand literature by thinking about how literature helps us to understand the world(s) around us—even, perhaps especially, as those worlds begin to fall apart. As we familiarize ourselves with the fundamentals of literary analysis and interpretation, we will consider how representing disasters (real or imagined) enables writers to grapple with the complexities, contradictions, and violence of their societies, environments, histories, and futures. Readings might include: Shakespeare’s The Tempest; poetry by Dionne Brand, Asiya Wadud, and M. NourbeSe Philip; and novels by Daniel Defoe and Jesmyn Ward. 3 hrs. lect./disc.