In this course, we will examine the human fascination with the end of the world. We will begin by interrogating the concepts of “genres” and “modes” and exploring the historical development of literary representations of the end of the world over the course of the twentieth century. We will engage depictions of global transformation in a range of media including the short story, drama, novel, film, and animation to help us understand the way that post|apocalyptic literature reflects the changing concerns of the 20th century and into the 21st. In doing so, we will also examine how contemporary fiction both shapes and is shaped by eschatology.
We will also explore authors writing against the apocalypse, who see the futures they depict as possible but avoidable and who couple their narratives with warnings and morals. To this extent, we will be engaging with literature not just as narrative worlds or literary artifacts, but in terms of their rhetorical qualities as well.
We will consider post-apocalyptic science fiction from a global perspective, including stories from Japanese, Native American, Indian, South African, and American authors. Neil Blomkamp’s District 9, Nalo Hopkinson and Vandana Singh offer perspectives on how anglophone, post-colonial cultures understand apparently apocalyptic events, particularly in terms of how issues of race and gender can come to the forefront in times of dramatic political change. Ryosuke Takeuchi’s All You Need is Kill offers a manga representation of a world on the verge of annihilation, and interrogates the duty of the individual to larger collectives.
How do we best understand the sentiments around the world during the fall of fascism and the rise of neoliberalism? How do authors create narratives that allay or confront the fears of rapidly changing economic and social conditions in the post-industrial world? What, in the end, is the future we want, and how do we reach the future we desire?
Required texts:
Hopkinson, Nalo. Brown Girl in the Ring. Warner Books: 1998. ISBN-13: 978-0446674331
Singh, Vandana. The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet and Other Stories. Zubaan, 2013. ISBN-13: 978-9381017968
Ryosuke Takeuchi. All You Need is Kill. Viz Media LLC, 2014. ISBN-13: 978-1421576015
Gordimer, Nadine. July’s People. Penguin Books, 1982. ISBN-13: 978-0140061406