ENGL 4430
THEORIES OF WORLD LITERATURE
Dr. Walt Hunter
Spring 2014, T/R 3:30-4:45 PM
Brackett Hall 322
Office hours: T/R 2-3 and by appointment
Office: Strode 805
Email: hunter1@clemson.edu
Phone: (610) 220-9142
Works of world literature define, question, and transform our notions of what a “world” is. How
do they do this? We’ll begin this course by investigating philosophical attempts to connect
literature and the world, from Plato and Aeschylus to Said, Butler, Rancière, and Adorno. Then
we’ll move to consider the various rhetorical stances literary works take towards the
contemporary regime of globalization, including positions of witnessing, playing, revolting,
mourning, prophesying, and allegorizing. In the process, we’ll cross paths with recurrent world
figures: the tourist, the zombie, the expert, the visionary, the solitary walker, the crowd, the
global citizen, the aesthete, the revolutionary. We'll follow anthropologists to Egypt and the
Central African Republic; novelists to New York, Antwerp, and Goa; filmmakers to Ecuador and
the Democratic Republic of the Congo; poets to Jamaica, Pakistan, and the Mississippi Gulf.
Late twentieth-century and contemporary novels, stories, and films (Cole, Sebald, Tabucchi,
Diaz, Ejiofor) will share space with case studies, fieldwork, and theories of economic
development (Ferguson, Mitchell, Sassen). Depending on class interest, we may also find
ourselves exploring several pressing developments in contemporary theories of world literature:
postcolonial ecologies; object-oriented ontology; radical poetics; indigenous philosophies of
worldliness and personhood from the global South.
Some of our central questions will be:

What is globalization? Who benefits from it? What tools do we use to measure the effects
of culture and commerce on poverty, inequality, and the environment?

What are the roles of critique, critical theory, and thought in today’s world?

How do novels, films, etc. theorize world space? How can they help us to imagine, and
even to bring about, alternative communities, kinds of knowledge, affective states, ethical
stances, and models of governance? What is the relation between the kind of “world” that
objects of culture create and the world that we inhabit and study? Are aesthetic forms in
some way uniquely equipped to address poverty, inequality, democratic crisis, and the
environment?

What are some of the questions and problems that arise from an ethics of universal
human rights or a global culture/society? What are some of the questions and problems
that arise from an ethics of difference?

What roles do culture, commerce, and travel—as well as the methods we use to analyze
these phenomena—play in the relationship between the West and the colonization of
much of the rest of the world? How has economic globalization ameliorated forms of
suffering, and how has it represented a continuation of violent forms of colonization?

How do we understand and compare concepts of justice, equality, wealth, time,
personhood, and freedom from a global perspective?
Required Texts
*All texts have been ordered at the Clemson University Bookstore. If you buy the text on your
own, make sure to buy the correct edition below. No other editions are allowed.
Teju Cole, Open City (Random House)
Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Rebel’s Silhouette (U of Mass Press)
W. G. Sebald, Austerlitz (Modern Library)
Antonio Tabucchi, Indian Nocturne (New Directions)
ISBN 0-812-98009-3
ISBN 0-870-23975-9
ISBN 0-375-75656-6
ISBN 0-811-21080-4
Required Course-pack
*There is a required course-pack. It is available at Campus Copy Shop, 384-1 College Ave.
Recommended Reading
The following two readings provide optional, but helpful, background for the course.
1. Sankaran Krishna, Introduction and Chapter 1, “Intellectual and Historical Background: The
Story of Unequal Development from 1500 to 1900,” from Globalization and Postcolonialism (130)
2. Vijay Prashad, The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South (Verso, 2012)
Requirements
NB: These requirements are the minimum requirements for passing the course. Evaluation of the
fulfillment of these requirements will determine the grades for the course.
The class will require two papers, weighted as follows: Paper 1 (20%), Paper 2 (25%). There will
be a final exam (30%).
Every other week, each student will post a blog response of 250-300 words on the reading for
that week—or on an article, film, book, poem, etc. approved by me (10%). These responses are
due by Monday at midnight. While the essays will be formal attempts to grapple with a theme,
text, or argument in the course, the blog responses will allow you to write more informally and,
crucially, to respond to your classmates.
Class participation will be essential (15%). See below.
NB: If you can’t make a film screening, you must watch it before that week’s discussion.
Attendance is required. You may miss two classes without penalty. Additional absences will
result in a five-point drop in your grade for each absence. Please be on time to class: two
latenesses will count as one absence. If I am delayed arriving to class, please wait 10 minutes
before leaving the classroom.
Participation
ENGL 4430 examines many of the most pressing global issues in the immediate present:
poverty, inequality, environmental catastrophe, labor, migration, and political solidarity in a time
of precarious life. Part of our effort, therefore, will be to define, together, what contemporariness
might mean. To this end, I will not be lecturing to you, but joining you as a co-investigator as we
explore our shared worldliness or globality. For this class to succeed, you must come eager and
prepared every day for a lively conversation. Each text should be read with a pen in hand,
underlined and marked-up. Simply attending each class is not enough for you to receive an A
participation grade. If you attend without participating, your participation grade will be no higher
than a C.
Grade Breakdown
Paper 1 (5 pages)
Paper 2 (5 pages)
Exam
Blog
Participation
20%
25%
30%
10%
15%
Paper Formatting
Papers must be written on numbered pages and double spaced in 12 point Times New Roman
Font with 1" margins. Please staple (do not fold or paperclip) your papers.
Grade Criteria
A:
B:
C:
D:
90-100
80-89
70-79
60-69
F:
59 & below
A: Outstanding or Superior. Contains an insightful thesis: presents material in a fresh and
exciting way; offers an exceptionally well-developed argument in every paragraph. Provides an
excellent interpretation and analysis of the material. Makes clear the significance of the
argument. Organizes material in a style achieving clarity and grace.
B: Very Good. Contains a discernable thesis; presents a main idea clearly distinguished from the
author’s thesis. Provides a commendable interpretation, well reasoned in most of its evidence
and analysis; however, the essay may contain faults in logic or lack a thorough discussion of
significance of the argument. Presents a clearly organized paper with a minimum of errors in its
formal structure.
C: Satisfactory. Contains a vague thesis or one that is too broad, general, or banal; lacks logical
development or good reasoning in places. Provides a good interpretation of the topic, with
average (i.e., somewhat general, broad, and predictable) handling of the evidence and analysis;
exhibits several problems in the organization of the paper. Fulfills all requirements of the
assignment.
D: Unsatisfactory. Lacks a thesis; falls short on one or more of the assignment requirements;
provides a weak interpretation, insufficient evidence, and/or poor analysis; demonstrates poor
handling of the formal aspects of the paper.
F: Failure. The assignment is incomplete, OR it offers no interpretation, little evidence, and very
poor analysis, OR the paper is very poorly organized and is incomprehensible because of
sentence level errors.
Zero: The paper is not submitted.
Writing Center
The University’s writing center is located in room 307 of the Academic Success Center. Tutors
are available to help you with your writing from 10AM to 4PM, Monday through Thursday. You
can find them online here: http://www.clemson.edu/centers-institutes/writing/
Plagiarism
Any failure to cite secondary sources in papers or on exams (including online sources and
information gleaned from casual online browsing) will be treated as plagiarism.
“As members of the Clemson University community, we have inherited Thomas Green
Clemson’s vision of this institution as a ‘high seminary of learning.’ Fundamental to this vision
is a mutual commitment to truthfulness, honor, and responsibility, without which we cannot earn
the trust and respect of others. Furthermore, we recognize that academic dishonesty detracts from
the value of a Clemson degree. Therefore, we shall not tolerate lying, cheating, or stealing in any
form.
A plagiarized essay will be worth 0 points and may result in a failing grade for the course. If the
University records a second offense, expulsion is the result. Please consult me, the MLA
Handbook, or the Chicago Manual of Style for help with any citations. When in doubt, always
cite your source, whether it’s a book, interview, webpage, or class conversation.
University Statement on Disability
Students with disabilities who need accommodations should make an appointment with Dr.
Arlene Stewart, Director of Disability Services, to discuss specific needs within the first month
of classes. Students should present a Faculty Accommodation Letter from Student Disability
Services when they meet with instructors. Student Disability Services is located in Suite 239
Academic Success Building (656-6848; sds-l@clemson.edu). Please be aware that
accommodations are not retroactive and new Faculty Accommodation Letters must be presented
each semester.
Laptop, Tablet, and Phone Policy
Electronic devices are not permitted. All devices must be put away during class.
Email Etiquette
Please observe basic letter-writing etiquette in your correspondence with me or any other
professors. All emails should include both a salutation (e.g. “Dear Professor Hunter” or “Hi Dr.
Hunter”) and a proper farewell with your name (e.g. “Best, John” or “Yours, Adrienne”).
SCHEDULE (subject to change)
9 Jan
Background Reading: Paul Jay, “What Is Globalization?”
Week 1
The Poem as World
14, 16 Jan
Poems: Anonymous, “Westron Wynde”; John Donne, “The GoodMorrow”; Manal Al-Sheikh, “A World”
Elliott Colla, “The Poetry of Revolt” (2011)
Week 2
World and Work
21, 23 Jan
Poems: Claude McKay, from Songs of Jamaica (1912), Harlem
Shadows (1922), and Cities (ca. 1934)
Pascale Casanova, “Literature as World” (2005)
Week 3
Poetry and the City
28, 30 Jan
Plato, Republic, from Books I and III
Week 4
Democracy and the Theater
4, 6 Feb
Aeschylus, Eumenides (trans. Robert Fagles)
Week 5
Living Together
11, 13 Feb
W. G. Sebald, Austerlitz (2001)
Judith Butler, “Precarious Life and the Obligations of Cohabitation”
(2011)
Week 6
Novel-Worlds (I)
18, 20 Feb
W. G. Sebald, Austerlitz (2001)
Edward Said, “Narrative, Geography, and Interpretation” (1990)
Paper 1 Due
Week 7
Whose Globalization?
25, 27 Feb
James Ferguson, “Globalizing Africa: Observations from an Inconvenient
Continent” (2006)
FILM: Columbite Tantalite (dir. Chiwetel Ejiofor, 2013)
Week 8
Living Apart
4, 6 Mar
Teju Cole, Open City (2012)
Jacques Rancière, “The Cause of the Other” (1998)
Week 9
Novel-Worlds (II)
11, 13 Mar
Teju Cole, Open City (2012)
_____
18, 20 Mar
_____
SPRING BREAK
Week 10
Remembering Catastrophe
25, 27 Mar
Natasha Tretheway, from Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the
Mississippi Gulf Coast (2011) (in preparation for her visit)
Week 11
Global Development and the Language of Expertise
1, 3 Apr
Timothy Mitchell, “Can the Mosquito Speak?” (2002)
Date TBA
FILM: Crude (dir. Joe Berlinger, 2009)
Paper 2 Due
Week 12
Hospitality and Translation
8, 10 Apr
Faiz Ahmed Faiz, The Rebel’s Silhouette (trans. Agha Shahid Ali, 1995)
Benjamin Whorf, “The Relation of Habitual Thought and Behavior to
Language” (1939)
Week 13
The Novel as Pilgrimage
15, 17 Apr
Antonio Tabucchi, Indian Nocturne (1984)
Week 14
The Poet as Critic
22, 24 Apr
Adrienne Rich, “Tonight No Poetry Will Serve” (2011)
Theodor Adorno, “Lyric Poetry and Society” (1957)
2 May
Final Exam (11:30 AM-2 PM)