ENGL 50: |
Introduction to U.S. Minority Literature
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The Lives of Dead Bodies |
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| Spring 2008 |
| Instructor: Bishnupriya Ghosh |
| Meets on: TR 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM PHELP 3515 |
| Prerequisites: None |
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| Satisfies a GE area G, a Writing, and an Ethnicity requirement |
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In this course we will pursue what Antigone knew: dead bodies signal hidden truths, they demand redress and recompense. Looking at a range of media (fiction, film, graphic art), we will consider how dead, near-dead, or mutilated bodies animate our knowledge of the contemporary social and political world in which we live. Our major examples will be drawn from South Africa and South Asia. This will take us to what the skeletal remains of the Rwandan genocide or the Sri Lankan civil war still have to tell us with regard to questions of witnessing and responsibility; to the anguished archives of truth commissions and body counts; and to singular hypervisible dead bodies in mass media.
All of the writers, illustrators, and filmmakers we will encounter reflect on what dead or near-dead bodies “tell” us, what they signify, and what ethical demands they place upon those who mourn them. While we will follow this thematic through the course, we will pay close attention to what kinds of formal mechanisms are available in these different media forms through which the dead speak.
This course is co-taught by Bishnupriya Ghosh and Russell Samolsky. |
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