Advanced Course                                                                                                             קורס בחירה     

Dr. Sonia Weiner                           soni@post.tau.ac.il                                                  ד"ר סוניה וינר   

 

This course will focus on late twentieth and early twenty first century migrant writers in America. We will explore the various ways the migrant writers translate the disjunctions of time and space caused by migration onto the form and structure of the novel. The authors often employ visual techniques, such as photography, comics, graphic art and cinema within their narratives, to convey both a surplus of perspectives, and to signify more pertinently upon the possibilities alternative spaces offer. The inclusion of visual modes enhances experimentation with temporal and spatial dimensions, and challenges not only the generic boundaries of the novel, but also the boundaries of the self and the nations, cultures and contexts in which this self evolves. We will additionally consider the question of audience, explore the metafictional proclivity for storytelling present in the novels, and examine questions of language and multilingualism, as the authors probe connections and disruptions between past and present, truth and truthfulness, and fact and fiction.

 

The texts address the question of the transnational turn in American Studies, which we will examine through theoretical texts on the topic. The theorization of space and its role in the transnational turn will also be considered.

 

Source texts may include: The Lazarus Project, Aleksandar Hemon; The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz; The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston; A Replacement Life, Boris Fishman; The Dew Breaker, Edwidge Danticat.

 

Course Requirements:

Attendance and active participation 5%

In-class midterm 35%

Final take home assignment 60%