127012 KO Critical Readings in Literature (2019W)

In this course, we will examine how (the founding and policies of) Canada and the United States are represented on a spectrum that ranges from causing displacement to providing refuge from displacement in texts from a variety of genres (such as short story cycles, slam poetry, novels, and graphic novels). We will consider, on the one hand, the persisting impact of settler colonialism and slavery in North America and the Caribbean in The Break and At the Full and Change of the Moon, and, on the other hand, how North America becomes a promising, albeit not always welcoming, refuge for the displaced of other nations in Maus and Do Not Say We Have Nothing. In particular, we will focus on the ways in which the descendants of displaced persons negotiate their family history and the role of writing and literature in this process. Our theoretical framework for analyzing the texts will come from, among others, postcolonial theory, psychoanalysis, and trauma theory.