Undergraduate Course: Beachcombers, Bikini(s) and Nuclear Bombs: Literature and empire in Oceania (ENLI10337)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | English Literature |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course will explore a range of colonial and postcolonial writing of the Pacific region, beginning with a consideration of the inscription and contestation of Romantic stereotypes of the Pacific in Euro-American literature of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Later sections of the course explore (inter alia) the intertwined discourses of tourism and militarism in the Pacific following the Second World War, which witnessed the establishment of American, British and French nuclear testing facilities across the region; and the ways in which various indigenous Pacific writers bear testament to their $ùliving histories&© by invoking Oceanian oral and written histories, narratives, cultural practices, and forms of resistance against new imperialisms in the region. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, through contributions to group discussion, independent reading, and assessed and non-assessed work, students will be able to:
-Identify dominant tropes in Euro-American discursive representations of Pacific Islanders from the late eighteenth century to the present day, and analyse contestations of these tropes in both Euro-American and indigenous Pacific writing
-Achieve an understanding of the complexities of indigenous Pacific creative expression, considering it not merely as a form of $ùwriting back&© against imperialism but rather (or additionally) as firmly rooted in indigenous Pacific cultural traditions
-Articulate (in written and oral forms) a considered, informed sense of the breadth and range of Pacific writing, theory and contexts, as well as situating Pacific writing within the broader theoretical context of international postcolonial studies and ecocriticism
-Develop a critical vocabulary for analysing a range of creative forms including narrative, performance and $ùspoken word&© poetry, film, and music
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Assessment Information
| One course essay (worth 25% of overall course mark) and one exam essay (worth 75% of overall course mark). |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Week 1. Herman Melville: Typee; extract from Rod Edmond&©s Representing the South Pacific.
Week 2. Robert Louis Stevenson: South Sea Tales (including $ùIn the South Seas&©; $ùThe Bottle Imp&©; $ùThe Isle of Voices&© and $ùThe Beach of Falesá&©)
Week 3. Jack London: $ùKo&©olau the Leper&©, $ùThe Terrible Solomons&© and $ùThe Red One&©
Week 4. Albert Wendt: Leaves of the Banyan Tree; $ùTowards a New Oceania&© and poems from $ùInside Us the Dead&©
Week 5. Antinuclear and feminist poetry and prose: Sia Figiel: $ùSongs of the Fat Brown Woman&©; Selina Tusitala Marsh, poetry from $ùFast Talking PI&©; Déwé Gorodé, $ùWave-Song&© and $ùZone Interdite&©; Hone Tuwhare, $ùNo Ordinary Sun&©; Joe Balaz, $ùDa Last Squid&©; excerpt from Robert Barlay&©s Melal: A Novel of the Pacific.
Week 6. Epeli Hau&©ofa, Tales of the Tikongs
Week 7. Keri Hulme: The Bone People; selected poems and prose
Week 8. ESSAY COMPLETION WEEK
Week 9. Patricia Grace: Potiki, $ùParade&© and $ùJourney&©; Witi Ihimaera, $ùThe Whale&©
Week 10. Alan Duff: Once Were Warriors;
Film: L. Tamahori (dir), Once Were Warriors (1994).
Week 11. Contemporary Pacific creative forms: poetry (including Samuel Cruickshank&©s $ùUrban Iwi&© and Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard&©s $ùSaa Nafanuaa&©) and episodes from the animated comedy series Bro&© Town.
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
See 'syllabus' above |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Oceania; Pacific; militarism; tourism; empire; postcolonialism |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Michelle Keown
Tel: (0131 6)50 6856
Email: michelle.keown@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Catherine Williamson
Tel: (0131 6)50 3620
Email: Catherine.Williamson@ed.ac.uk |
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