Globalized Identities in Literatures and Cultures in English
Summary
This course will study poetry in English from around the world.
The main objectives of the course are:
- To increase our understanding of how form and technique work in poetry written in English.
- To understand how the construction and representation of the idea of nation and identity are related in these poetic works.
- To develop and demonstrate the skills needed to write critical essays based on relevant source material related to the notions of nationalism, imperialism and postcolonialism within the framework of contemporary critical theory.
What Do We Study
Poetry in English from around the world, from postcolonial countries, the USA and the British Isles.
Which is the Line of Thought
We will begin with an anlysis of the concepts of empire, nation and nation state. We will then go on to study the representation of these concepts in poetry originating in the imperial metropolis, from poets excluded from the dominant national discourse, and in poetry emerging from postcolonial nations.
Theoretical and Practical Approaches
Hastings, Adrian. The Construction of Nationhood. Cambridge: CUP, 1997.
Nations and Nationalisms: Journal of the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (London School of Economics & Political Science). Edited by: John Breuilly, Daphne Halikiopoulou, John Hutchinson and Eric Kaufmann. Online ISSN:1469-8129. https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.sire.ub.edu/journal/14698129
Young, Kevin (ed). African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song. New York: Library of America, 2020.