123252 AR Literature Course - Literature 1/2 (MA) British/Irish/New English (2014S)

This seminar concentrates on representative literary descriptions of the colonial peripheries of the British Empire written between the early 20th century and WWII. It will shed light on the problematic self-understanding of the colonisers and the fantasies with which they sought to control their fears of failure. We will examine the representation of the relationships between coloniser and colonised and in particular explore attempts to formulate a respectful understanding of the belief system of the supposedly uncivilised inhabitants of colonised territories.