English 291 (W, I, Honors) The Literature of Partition: India, Ireland, Palestine

Wagner College, Spring 2002

 

Dr. Pranav Jani                                                Office Hours: MW 3-5, Or by appointment

Parker Hall 302                                               http://www.wagner.edu/faculty/users/pjani

pjani@wagner.edu                                           http://webboard.wagner.edu/~pjani

(718) 390-3362                          

                                                                     

Course Description:

In the first half of the 20th century, British colonial authorities conducted the ruthless partitions of India, Ireland, and Palestine.  Partition served the interests of both the British colonizers and the nationalist elites.  For the vast majority of people in what used to be India, Ireland, and Palestine, however, the legacy of partition has been civil war, sectarian conflict, rape and inhumanity, military occupation, exile, and utter economic and social dependence.  We will examine novels, short stories, plays, poems and films from India, Ireland, and Palestine that speak from the perspective of the oppressed peoples of those regions—e.g., Indian Muslims, Northern Irish Catholics, Palestinians—in order to to understand these literary works in context, we will also examine the histories of these three regions and discuss how partition came about as well as its contemporary impact. Through these literary and historical texts we will get an insight into how writers have themselves experienced and represented partition and subsequent developments, how religious and cultural ideologies functioned then and now to justify partition, and how the struggle against national oppression is related to the struggle against social oppression in general.

 

Required Texts:

Liyanah Badr, Balcony over the Fakihani

Sahar Khalifeh, Wild Thorns

Sean O’Casey, Three Dublin Plays

Frank O’Connor, ed.  Class Irish Short Stories

Arundhati Roy, Power Politics

Khushwant Singh, Train to Pakistan 

 

Course Packet, English 291, Spring 2002 (CP)

 

Assignments and Grading

Informal Writing:                5%

Classroom Participation:    20%

Paper #1 (3-4          pages):         20%

Paper #2 (5-7 pages):                 25%

Final Project                      30%

 

COURSE OUTLINE

 

Week 1:  Comparing Literatures of Partition

W 1/23         Introduction: Imperialism and Nationalism

Jawaharlal Nehru, “Tryst With Destiny”—CP

Faiz Ahmed Faiz, “Dawn of Freedom”—CP

F 1/25           Hanan Mikha’il ‘Ashrawi, “Night Patrol,” “Death By Burial”—CP

                    Kathleen O’Driscoll, “Theocrats,” “Motherland”—CP

 

Note: Drop/Add Period Ends 1/31

 

INDIA: India/Pakistan/Bangladesh

Week 2:  Coming to Grips with Partition

M 1/28                    Study Timelines on India

                    Sam Ashman, “India: Imperialism, Partition, and Resistance”—CP

W 1/30         Mumtaz Mufti, “An Impenetrable Darkness”—CP

F 2/1            Saadat Hasan Manto, “Black Margins”—CP

                    Ali Imam Naqvi, “The Vultures of the Parsi Cemetery”—CP

                    One-page Response Paper Due

 

Week 3-4: Displacing Identities

M 2/4            Khushwant Singh, Train to Pakistan

W 2/6           Singh, Train to Pakistan

F 2/8            Singh, Train to Pakistan

 

M 2/11                    Manto, “Toba Tek Singh”—CP

W 2/13         Mohan Rakesh, “The Owner of the Rubble”—CP

F 2/15           Rajinder Singh Bedi, “Lajwanti”—CP

 

Week 5: Contemporary Representations

M 2/18                    NO CLASS—School Holiday

T 2/19           Monday Classes

                    Deepa Mehta, Earth (film)—in class

W 2/20         Mehta, Earth

F 2/22           Wes Cecil, Pranav Jani, Stacy Tacaks, “India Is(n’t)”—handout

                    Compare US, Indian, and Pakistani media on the current crisis

                    Paper #1 Due

 

Note: Declare Pass/Fail Option, 2/20-2/26

 

IRELAND: Ireland/Northern Ireland

Week 6: The Struggle For Freedom

M 2/25                    Study Timelines on Northern Ireland

W. B. Yeats, “Easter 1916,” “The Second Coming”—CP

W 2/27         Sean O’Casey, “The Plough and the Stars”

F 3/1            O’Casey, “The Plough and the Stars”

                   

Week 7: Towards Partition

M 3/4            Neil Jordan, Michael Collins (film)

W 3/6           O’Casey, “Shadow of a Gunman”

F 3/8            O’Casey, “Shadow of a Gunman”

 

Spring Break 3/11-3/17

 

Note: D/F Notices Go Out, 3/18

 

Week 8-9: Occupation and Resistance since the 1960s

M 3/18                    From Classic Irish Short Stories

W 3/20         Jim Sheridan, In the Name of the Father (film)

F 3/22           Sheridan, In the Name of the Father

                    Eamonn McCann, “Bloody Sunday: Time for the Truth”—CP

Paper #2 Due

         

Note: Last Day to Drop Without Academic Penalty, 3/26

 

M 3/25                    From Classic Irish Short Stories

W 3/27         From Classic Irish Short Stories

F 3/29           NO CLASS—School Holiday

 

PALESTINE: Israel/Occupied Territories

Weeks 10-11: Displacement and Exile

M 4/1            NO CLASS—School Holiday

W 4/3           Compare Timelines: Israel and Palestine

Joe Sacco, Palestine—in class

F 4/5            Ghassan Kanafani, “Men in the Sun”—CP

         

M 4/8            Liyanah Badr, from Balcony Over the Fakihani           

M 4/10                    Badr, from Balcony Over the Fakihani   

F 4/12           Badr, from Balcony Over the Fakihani   

 

Week 12-13: Occupation and Resistance Since the 1970s

M 4/15                    Sahar Khalifeh, Wild Thorns

W 4/17         Khalifeh, Wild Thorns

                    Deadline for Final Project Conferences

F 4/19           Khalifeh, Wild Thorns

         

M 4/22                    Excerpts from Israel Peace Writing—handout   

W 4/24         Edward Said, “The Essential Terrorist”—handout

In-class analysis of Representations of Palestinians/Arabs/Muslims

F 4/26           Debate: Violence, Non-Violence, Terrorism

 

Note: Last Day to Withdraw from Class, 5/1

 

Week 14: Conclusion

M 4/29                    Presentations of Projects

W 5/1           Presentations of Projects

                    Final Projects Due

 

Notes:           Reading Days: 5/2 and 5/3

Exam Week: 5/6-5/10

Deadline for Late Work, 5/10 @ 5pm