Summer 2001

Armstrong Atlantic State University
ENGLISH 7757/INDEPENDENT STUDY
Contemporary World Literature
Dr. Richard Nordquist

The summer 2001 session of ENGL 7757 has concluded.  This
course may next be offered in the 2002-2003 academic year.

RELATED SITES
Contemporary Lit.
English Resources
Other course sites

ENGLISH 7757 Graduate Seminar in World Literature
A detailed study of a selected author, topic, or genre in literature to include works outside Britain and the United States.
(AASU Graduate Catalog)

This summer's independent study version of English 7757 will focus on selected novels and short stories published over the past fifty years, with a special emphasis on the interplay of fiction and history.  We will be reading (and discussing and writing about) works by the following international authors:

* Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)
* Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana)
* Julia Alvarez (U.S.)
* Martin Amis (England)
* Reinaldo Arenas (Cuba)
* Margaret Atwood (Canada)
* Toni Cade Bambera (U.S.)
* Russell Banks (U.S.)
* Nicola Barker (England)
* Julian Barnes (England)
* Richard Bausch (U.S.)
* Ann Beattie (U.S.)
* T. C. Boyle (U.S.)
* Robert Olen Butler (U.S.)
* Peter Carey (Australia)
* Angela Carter (England)
* Patrick Chamoiseau (Martinique)
* Vikram Chandra (India)
* Sandra Cisneros (U.S.)
* Jim Crace (England)
* Edwidge Danticat (Haiti)
* Lydia Davis (U.S.)
* Daniele del Giudice (Italy)
* Don DeLillo (U.S.)
* Junot Díaz (Dominican Republic)
* Patricia Dunker (England)
* Duong Thu Huong (Vietnam)
* Deborah Eisenberg (U.S.)
* Nathan Englander (U.S.)
* Victor Erofeyev (Russia)
* Louise Erdrich (U.S.)
* Peter Esterhazy (Hungary)
* Naruddin Farah (Somalia)
* Richard Ford (U.S.)
* Ernest Gaines (U.S.)
* Eduardo Galeano (Uruguay)
* Hervé Guibert (France)
* Abdulrazak Gurnah (Tanzania)
* Barry Hannah (U.S.)
* Peter Hoeg (Denmark)
* Pawel Huelle (Poland)
* Kazuo Ishiguro (England)
* Roy Jacobsen (Norway)
* Edward P. Jones (U.S.)
* James Kelman (Scotland)
* Hanif Kureishi England)
* Torgny Lindgren (Sweden)
* Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombia)
* Bobbie Ann Mason (U.S.)
* Colum McCann (Ireland)
* Ian McEwan (Wales)
* Steven Millhauser (U.S.)
* Lorrie Moore (U.S.)
* Mary Morris (U.S.)
* Toni Morrison (U.S.)
* Mohammed Mrabet (Morocco)
* Bharat Mukherjee (India)
* Murathan Mungan (Turkey)
* Haruki Murakami (Japan)
* Joyce Carol Oates (U.S.)
* Ben Okri (Nigeria)
* Amos Oz (Israel)
* Victor Pelevin (Russia)
* Salman Rushdie (England)
* Ken Saro-Wiwa (Nigeria)
* Ingo Schulze (Germany)
* Graham Swift (England)
* Antonio Tabucchi (Italy)
* Ngugi wa Thiong'o (Kenya)
* Tatyana Tolstaya (Russia)
* Rose Tremain (England)
* Luisa Valenzuela (Argentina)
* Edmund White (U.S.)
* Zoë Wicomb (South Africa)
* John Edgar Wideman (U.S.)
* Joy Williams (U.S.)
* Jeanne Wilmot (U.S.)
* Jeanette Winterson (England)
* Tobias Wolff (U.S.)
* Can Xue (China)
* Banana Yoshimoto (Japan)

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to representative works by a wide range of contemporary authors from around the world.  In studying these texts, we will consider (and question) the interplay of fiction and history; the varieties of literary style; the qualities that link as well as distinguish works from different cultures; the distinctive characteristics of "magic realism" and other contemporary fictional forms; and the fundamental presumptions of "postmodernism."  In addition, we will consider how these texts might be introduced effectively to students in language arts classes at the secondary-school level.

COURSE TEXTS are listed on the TITLES page.  Texts may be purchased online (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Buy.com, et al.) or locally from Barnes & Noble.

NEWS.  Visit the NEWS page frequently (at least twice a week) to keep track of course assignments and site updates.