COMP 346
Questioning the Cultural Self in Literature
Last Offered Spring 2008
Division I Writing Skills
This course is not offered in the current catalog

Cultural encounters entail a questioning of identity, values and worldview. As the familiar gives way to the unknown, issues of knowledge and power can begin to influence the interaction between different groups. In this course we will examine texts dealing with differences in language, religion, race, class, gender and citizenship that lead to the formation of allegiances and rivalries. What constitutes a cultural group? How is difference determined? What is the nature of the tension characteristic of many a cross-cultural encounter? How do cultural hybridity and conflicting solidarities influence multi-cultural dialogues? Readings for this course include Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, Nelida Pinon’s The Republic of Dreams, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place, Ghassan Kanafani’s Return to Haifa and Victor Martinez’s Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida.