Comp. Lit. 392
Speaking for the Other: Orientalism and Literature
TuTh 1:00-2:30 pm
Ridgley 107
Professor Fatemeh Keshavarz
Office Hours: MW 11:00-12:00
Office: Busch Hall 114b
Tel: 935-8576
Goals
Orientalism is a way of thinking about the world
and the cultures that inhabit it. It acquires global significance by defining
and presenting these cultures in ways that endorse, even reinforce, the
political and economic supremacy of the West. Edward Said, the thinker
who coined the term Orientalism, pointed out that the Orient was almost
a European invention since antiquity as a place of “romance, exotic beings,
haunting memories and landscapes.” In another sense, the Orient helped Europe
to define itself, or the West, as its contrasting image in terms of people,
ideas, experiences, etc.
Because Orientalism lives on in the academic world
and has deep philosophical roots, it is impossible to study the Orient,
or many other parts of the world, without being influenced by Orientalism.
Journalists, political ideologues, philologists, moviemakers, historians,
poets, painters – among others- have contributed to an Orientalist vision
of the world.
The purpose of this course is not to reduce Orientalism
to a set of lies but instead to look at its structures, functions, dynamics,
impacts, and indirect expression through art forms such as cinema and particularly
literature.
Methods
I do not believe in long periods of lecturing as
an effective teaching method. Learning does not happen with accumulation
of facts. It takes place in active participation and debate. To generate
interaction, I will present the class with questions that would lead to
debate. These questions are related directly to class readings and films
that we have watched. While all your contributions are part of our learning
experience, I will be responsible for charting the course of the debates,
sum ups, and transitions into new and specific topics.For
your part, you are expected to form 3 to 5 debate-generating questions
for each class. I will keep a log of the questions that each of you have
contributed throughout the semester. This is, in part, to make sure that
the questions that we have not had time to address are not overlooked.
But the log will also enable me to evaluate the range of questions that
you have generated over the course of the semester and let it be reflected
in the overall grade, which you will receive for the course. Once in the
semester, you will have the opportunity to present a work of literary,
artistic, or scholarly nature to the class and argue for its Orientalist
standpoint or the lack thereof. In my evaluation of your presentation,
I will place the main emphasis on your analysis of the work in question,
and your application of the ideas, which we have discussed in class, rather
than the work about which you speak. In addition, you will write two papers
of 5 to 7 pages each one in the middle and one at the end of the semester.
I will provide you with specific guidelines for these papers. Finally,
in this course, there will be great emphasis on your regular attendance
and active participation in class discussion. We will watch films, listen
to guest speakers, and critique class presentations.
Reading
Edward Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage
Books, 1979).
Matthew Bernstein & Gaylyn Studlar, Vision
of the East: Orientalism in Film (New
Brunswick, New
Jersey: RutgersUniversity
Press, 1997).
Richard King, Orientalism and Religion: Postcolonial Theory, India
and ‘The Mystic
East’ (London
& New York: Routledge, 1999).
Mohammed Sharafuddin, Islam and Romantic Orientalism:
Literary Encounters with
The Orient
(London & New York: I.B. Tauris, 1994)
Evaluation
Attendance and Active Participation10%
Forming questions for each class20%
Class presentation20%
Mid-term Paper, 5 to 7 pages, due on
Tuesday March 1625%
Final Paper, 5 to 7 pages, due on
Friday, May 725%
Weekly
Schedule
Week 1 (Jan. 20-22)
I will introduce the course and discuss the syllabus.
The Scope of Orientalism, Said: Chapter 1-110.
Week 2 (Jan. 27-29)
Orientalist Structures and restructures.
Said: Chapter 2, 111-197 and the first section of
Chapter 3, Orientalism Now, 201-225.
Film and discussion to prepare for a discussion of
Orientalism at present.
Week 3 (Feb. 3-5)
We will end Said’s Orientalism discussing the rest
of Chapter 3, 226-352.
Film and discussion.
Week 4 (Feb. 10-12)
Orientalism in Film, Bernstein & Gaylyn, 1-98.
Film and discussion.
Week 5 (Feb. 17-19)
Orientalism in Film, Bernstein and Gaylyn, 99- 183
Film and discussion.
Week 6 (Feb. 24-26)
Orientalism in Film, Bernstein and Gaylyn, 183-311.
Film and discussion.
Week 7 (March 2-4)
The Power of definitions: a genealogy of the Idea
of ‘the mystical’
King: 1-61. Will discuss as a group the topics and
ideas that you have explored for your first paper, ideally you should have
a rough outline.
Week 8 (March 9-11) Spring Break
Week 9 (March 16-18)
The first Paper due by 5:00
pm on March 16.
We will continue with: The politics of privatization:
Indian religion and the study of mysticism, and Beyond Orientalism, King,
161-218.
Film: The Inner Life from the series The Traditional
World
of Islam.
Week 10 (March 23-25)
Islam and Romantic Orientalism: Literary Encounters
with the Orient.
Sharafuddin, 1-133.
Week 11 (March 30- April 1st)
Islam and Romantic Orientalism: Literary Encounters
with the Orient.
Sharafuddin, 134-274.
Your class presentations begin
Week 12 (April 6-8)
The impact of Orientalism on the study of Rumi.
Selections from translations by Colman Barks.
Handout, selection from Keshavarz, Reading Mystical
Lyric: the Case of Jalal al-Din Rumi and Keshavarz, “Pregnant with God:
The Poetic Art of Mothering the Sacred in Rumi’s Fihi ma fih.”
Week 13 (April 13-15)
Self Orientalization in the Orient, later developments.
Forough Farrukhzad, I Shall Salute the Sun Once
again.
Film and discussion
Week 14 (April 20-22)
Self Orientalization in the Orient, later developments.
Amad Shamlu, Master Poet of Liberty.
Film and discussion
Week 15 (April 27-29)
Concluding exchanges.
Final Paper due on Friday, May 7