English 90cnc. Conrad, Naipaul, Coetzee: Genealogies of the Global Imagination

Instructor: Homi Bhabha
Thursday, 3:00-5:45pm | Location: TBD
Enrollment: Limited to 15 students

The novels of Conrad, Naipaul, and Coetzee have a particular value to contemporary discourses on global culture. Writing from specific historical and cultural contexts, all three writers are profoundly concerned with the ethical and aesthetic projects connected to economic and political forms of governance. Our study will focus on the problematic nature of intercultural relations as they are constituted in global networks. The meticulous reading of primary texts is an essential requirement of the seminar, which will focus on figurative language and fictional forms as they are used to imagine community and communication on a global scale. Critical and theoretical writings will be introduced to further the discussion of questions and topics raised by seminar participants.

This course satisfies the “1900-Present Guided Elective" requirement for English concentrators and Secondary Field students.