ENG
771(1): Seminar in Pacific Literatures (CSAP/LSE,HAP)
The blossoming of Pacific
literatures continues to spread throughout Oceania and beyond as new generations of
indigenous writers are producing an exciting array of work from fiction to
poetry, creative nonfiction to drama and screenwriting. As a scholarly
discipline, Pacific Literary Studies is a field enriched and invigorated by
wide-ranging dialogue with other disciplines including Cultural Studies,
Indigenous Studies, Post-colonial Studies and Gender Studies. In this course we will explore the
intersections of those various perspectives as analytical frameworks for engaging
key themes such as social change, identity, the natural world and environment, genealogy,
oral expression and aesthetics. A final research project will offer to students
the opportunity to explore a relevant topic of their choice emanating from
course materials and discussion.
Supplementary reading
will be available to download from Laulima.
Student
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge of major
themes, issues and trends in Pacific Literatures;
Competency in literary
analysis of texts;
Proficiency applying
theoretical frameworks to written and oral texts;
Advanced training in
critical thinking, research methods and academic writing;
Practice in composition
and professional delivery of conference papers.
Course Requirements
Attendance and
participation;
Weekly reading
responses and discussion posted to class blog;
Discussion
facilitation (one class during the semester);
1 Conference
Paper / Presentation (7 – 8 pages);
1 Research Paper
(15-20 pages).
Required Texts
Epeli Hau’ofa. We
are the Ocean: Selected Works.
Vilsoni Hereniko
& Rob Wilson, Eds. Inside Out:
Literature, Cultural Politics, and Identity in the New Pacific.
Michelle Keown, Pacific Islands Writing: The Postcolonial
Literatures of Aotearoa/New Zealand and Oceania
Penny van Toorn.
Writing Never Arrives Naked.
Rob Wilson Reimagining
the American Pacific: From South Pacific to Bamboo Ridge and Beyond
The Contemporary
Pacific1 3.2 (Special issue – Native Pacific
Cultural Studies)
The Contemporary
Pacific 22.2 (Special issue – Albert Wendt)