Course Syllabus
ENGL 431: Topics in British Literature:
Power, Publishing, and 20th Century Literature
Spring 2022
M/W 1:30-3:20, Loew Hall 106
Instructor: Anna Preus (apreus@uw.edu)
Office Hours: Monday, 11:30-12:30 (in person PDL B-426) / Wednesday, 3:30-4:30 (Zoom)
Course Description
Who decides what gets printed? How do publishing conditions affect our conception of literary movements? And how did authors from around the world navigate the publishing industry in England during the high period of British empire? This course traces histories of publishing in the 20th century, focusing in particular on works published with independent and non-commercial presses. We will discuss books by a range of authors--including Rabindranath Tagore, W.B. Yeats, Claude McKay, Radclyffe Hall, Mulk Raj Anand, Virginia Woolf, Chinua Achebe, Jamaica Kincaid, and Tsitsi Dangarembga--in the context of their publication histories and material forms. In addition to looking at the historical circumstances of publishing, we will explore 21st-century interpretations of modern texts in the form of digital editions, online archives, and other forms of interactive media. The final project for the course will be a substantial research paper, which students will work on over the course of the quarter. This course will take place in person.
Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate familiarity with a range of genres, authors, and perspectives from the 20th century, from widely-read and influential works to historically marginalized voices, including the defining characteristics of literature written in the period. Be able to explain how those defining characteristics relate to major historical events or social transformations
- Situate works within the world in which they were written, especially in terms of systems of literary production, circulation, and preservation. To understand forms, genres, ideas, persons, and institutions as historically constituted, coming into and out of being in different times and places in conjunction with social, economic, political, and ecological conditions. In short, to historicize.
- Examine how systems of power including capitalism, racism, white supremacy, sexism, heteronormativity, ableism, transphobia, colonialism and imperialism impact the production, reception, dissemination, and valuation of literature, culture, and language.
- Understand the historical production of ideas of normativity and otherness. How did cultural institutions and/or literary forms define the other as a source of fear, scandal, curiosity, fascination, and desire? What norms do those ideas imply? To see historical periods as characterized by shared concerns but also as internally divided, respecting the difference both of, and within, the past.
- Amplify alternative methodologies and ways of knowing, listening and learning about the past and present, the local and the global.
- Demonstrate understanding of research methods in English literature and reflect on experiences across the English major.
Required Texts
Mulk Raj Anand, Untouchable [ISBN: 0141393602]
Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas, Annotated [ISBN: 0156031639]
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart [ISBN: 9780385474542]
Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions [ISBN: 9781644450710]
All other readings will be available on Canvas.
Assignments
Participation (15%)
This is a senior capstone course and it represents, in part, the culmination of your career as an English major. The course is therefore designed so that you may discuss shared reading material and learn from each other as junior scholars. Please complete assigned readings by the day they are listed on the schedule and come to class ready to engage constructively with the material alongside your classmates. Contributing to in-class discussions is important, but it is not the only way to earn a strong participation grade. Many types of engagement can contribute positively to your grade, including coming to class on time and prepared, taking part in in-class writing assignments and polls, chiming in on the Zoom chat if you’re attending virtually, communicating promptly about alternate assignments for missed classes, and attending virtual or in-person office hours.
Presentation (5%)
Everyone in the course will sign up to give a brief presentation on a press or publisher at some point during the quarter. During the first week of classes a list of potential presses will be distributed, but you are also welcome to select a press that is of interest to you. Example publisher list>>
Note-Taking Assignment (5%)
you will need to sign up for one class during the quarter where you will be a designated note-taker. The person in this role on a given day will take notes on the content covered and post them to the “Class Notes” page. Notes should be posted within 24 hours of the end of the class they cover so that classmates who have missed the class will be able to access them before the next class.
Canvas Discussion Posts (15%)
The course Canvas website will have a discussion forum for you to practice writing skills in an informal setting. You are expected to post to the course discussion board at least four times over the course of the quarter. Please respond to course discussion boards within 2 weeks of when they are posted.
Analysis of a Material or Digital Text (20%)
Around midterm, you will write a short paper analyzing a material or digital text. This paper will be an investigation of the relationship between the form in which a text is published and the content of the text itself. The paper should be 4 pages in length, double spaced, Times or Times New Roman 12-pt font.
ePortfolio (10%)
Since this class serves as the capstone to your experience in the English major, you will create an electronic portfolio, assessing the skills that you have developed over the course of your university experience and considering how these might be applied in future settings. The portfolio will include a piece of self-reflective writing.
Final paper (30%)
Your final assignment will be a research paper on a topic of your choosing. The paper should be 8 or more pages in length, double spaced. There will be multiple early deadlines to encourage you to complete aspects of your project ahead of the final draft. You will submit a proposal in week 7 and an annotated bibliography in week 8, and you will meet with me to discuss your progress in week 9.
Grading of Written Work
All papers should be word-processed, double-spaced in 12-point font (preferably Times or Times New Roman), and submitted via Canvas. Please use MLA formatting for in-text citations and your works cited page. Datasets should be submitted as Excel workbooks.
An “A” paper directly and specifically addresses the prompt and makes a meaningful interpretive claim that is relevant to conversations about humanities data science. The writer includes an original thesis statement that is backed up by defined points that are rooted in analysis of concrete evidence. It moves beyond material covered during class discussions. The writing is clear and conveys the author’s points effectively.
A “B” paper addresses the prompt and makes an interpretive claim about a literary work, but the claim may be overly broad or narrow, or the author may not adequately demonstrate why it matters to conversations in humanities data science. The paper presents a solid argument and evidence but may lack specificity or stray from the primary claim. It mostly moves beyond material covered in class discussions. The writing is generally clear but may contain errors that interfere with its readability.
A “C” paper to some degree addresses the prompt and demonstrates a generally good grasp of the material, but its analysis may be weakened by problems with organization, clarity, or vagueness. The paper makes good points and demonstrates an understanding of its subject, but it is not well organized or backed up by a close examination of that subject. It tends to present summary in the place of analysis and the argument may not be backed up with concrete evidence. The paper may contain errors that interfere with its readability.
A “D” paper attempts to address a reasonable subject but lacks an original thesis. The paper does not make a clear point or does not have a clear argument, and the reader may be confused about what the essay is trying to accomplish. The paper may include misreadings, or grammatical errors that obscure meaning. Like the C paper, it tends to present summary in the place of analysis and may contain errors that interfere with its readability.
English Department Statement of Values
The UW English Department aims to help students become more incisive thinkers, effective communicators, and imaginative writers by acknowledging that language and its use is powerful and holds the potential to empower individuals and communities; to provide the means to engage in meaningful conversation and collaboration across differences and with those with whom we disagree; and to offer methods for exploring, understanding, problem solving, and responding to the many pressing collective issues we face in our world—skills that align with and support the University of Washington’s mission to educate “a diverse student body to become responsible global citizens and future leaders through a challenging learning environment informed by cutting-edge scholarship.”
As a department, we begin with the conviction that language and texts play crucial roles in the constitution of cultures and communities. Our disciplinary commitments to the study of language, literature, and culture require of us a willingness to engage openly and critically with questions of power and difference. As such, in our teaching, service, and scholarship we frequently initiate and encourage conversations about topics such as race, immigration, gender, sexuality, and class. These topics are fundamental to the inquiry we pursue. We are proud of this fact, and we are committed to creating an environment in which our faculty and students can do so confidently and securely, knowing that they have the backing of the department.
Towards that aim, we value the inherent dignity and uniqueness of individuals and communities. We aspire to be a place where human rights are respected and where any of us can seek support. This includes people of all ethnicities, faiths, genders, national origins, political views, and citizenship status; nontheists; LGBQTIA+; those with disabilities; veterans; and anyone who has been targeted, abused, or disenfranchised.
Contact Me
I will be happy to address brief questions over email or Canvas. If you have more involved questions, I will be glad to speak to you in office hours or by appointment.
Schedule
(Readings should be completed on the date indicated.)
Week 1: Welcome and Introduction
Mar. 28 Welcome and introduction
Mar. 30 Warren Chappell & Robert Bringhurst, Short History of the Printed Word (193-203, 212-17, 224-26) [PDF]
George Bornstein, “How to read a page: modernism and material textuality” (5-9, 23-31) [PDF]
W.B. Yeats, from Responsibilities: “Pardon, old fathers,” “September 1913,” “No Second Troy,” “The Fascination of What’s Difficult”
Week 2: Commercial Publishers and the Marketing of Difference in the Teens
Apr. 4 Sarojini Naidu, from The Golden Threshold
Arthur Symons, "Introduction"
"Palanquin Bearers"
"Wandering Singers"
"Indian Weavers"
"The Past and Future"
"Life"
Rabindranath Tagore, from Gitanjali:
W.B. Yeats, "Introduction"
#25-#35 (13-18)
Amardeep Singh, “The Lifting and the Lifted”
Apr. 6 Claude McKay from Spring in New Hampshire and other Poems
“Spring in New Hampshire”
“Alfonso, Dressing to Wait at Table, Sings”
“The Tropics in New York”
“Harlem Shadows”
“Harlem Dancer”
from Harlem Shadows
Claude McKay, “Author’s Word”
“America”
“The Tired Worker”
“If We Must Die”
William J. Maxwell, Introduction to The Complete Poems of Claude McKay
Week 3: Small Presses and Women Editors in the Twenties
Apr. 11 Selections from The Little Review (esp. issue 1 and the September 1916 issue)
Selections from The New Freewoman (esp issue 1 and the December 1913 issue)
Selections from The Egoist (esp issue 1 and the December 1914 issue)
Jayne Marek, ed., “Women Editors and Modernist Sensibilities”
*See a note on completing the above readings in the Canvas assignment
Apr. 13 Hope Mirrlees, Paris: A Poem
Melanie Micir, “The Small Press and the Feminist Critic”
Week 4: Anti-Authoritarian Writing in the age of Fascism, part 1
Apr. 18 Anand, Untouchable (1-73)
Susheila Nasta, “Between Bloomsbury and Gandhi? The Background to the Publication and Reception of Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable”
Apr. 20 Anand, Untouchable (74-139 and afterword)
Week 5: Anti-Authoritarian Writing in the Age of Fascism, part 2
Apr. 25 Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas (1-77)
Brenda Silver, “The Authority of Anger: Three Guineas as Case Study”
Apr. 27 Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas (102-170) [focus on pages 102-154]
Merry Pawlowski, “Exposing Masculine Spectacle: Virginia Woolf’s Newspaper Clippings for Three Guineas as Contemporary Cultural Criticism” (p. 117 to top of 122)
Assignment: Analysis of a material or digital text due April 29 [~3 pages]
Week 6: Post-War Publishing and Postcoloniality, Part 1
May 2 Ismat Chugtai, “Lihaaf” [The Quilt]
Una Marson, from The Moth and the Star
"Little Brown Girl"
"Home Thoughts"
"Nostalgia"
"Black is Fancy"
"Cinema Eyes"
"Kinky Hair Blues"
"Lonesome Blues"
Anna Snaith, "Una Marson and London"
May 4 Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (1-98)
Week 7: Post-War Publishing and Postcoloniality, Part 2
May 9 Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (99-165)
Peter Kalliney, “The African Writers’ Series” from Commonwealth of Letters
May 11 Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (166-209)
Dereck Walcott, “A Far Cry from Africa,” and “Laventille”
Kamau Brathwaite, “Wings of a Dove,” “Calypso”
Okot p'Bitek from Song of Lawino
Assignment: Final paper proposal due May 12 [~1 page]
Week 8: Activist Women’s Presses in the Eighties and Nineties, Part 1
May 16 Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions
Simone Murray, “‘Books of Integrity’: The Women’s Press, Kitchen Table Press, and Dilemmas of Feminist Publishing”
May 18 Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions
Barbara Smith, “A Press of Our Own Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press”
Assignment: Annotated bibliography due May 19 [at least 4-5 sources]
Week 9: Activist Women’s Presses in the Eighties and Nineties, Part 2
May 23 Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions
A.K. Ramanujan, “Self-portrait,” “Elements of Composition”
Arun Kolatkar, “The Bus” from Jejuri
Agha Shahid Ali, “The Dacca Gauzes’
May 25 NO CLASS - FINAL PAPER OFFICE HOURS
Week 10: Conglomerate Publishing at the Turn of the 21st Century
May 30 NO CLASS - MEMORIAL DAY
June 1 Dan Sinykin, “The Conglomerate Era”
Assignment: ePortfolio and Final Paper due June 8 [8 or more pages]
Policies and Resources
Attendance
This is an in-person course. Please make an effort to attend all classes. If you need to miss class for a foreseeable reason, please let me know in advance, and I will provide you with a Zoom link to livestream the class you will be absent for. If you have already missed a class, you can find notes on the material we covered in that session on the Class Notes page. Your safety and the safety of everyone in the course is of the highest importance, so please adhere to University requirements in relation to the ongoing pandemic. You can find resources for students, including information on monitoring for Covid-19 symptoms, accessing testing, and participating in contact tracing, here: https://www.washington.edu/coronavirus/students/.
Late Work
All assignments should be submitted on Canvas by the end of the day they are listed on the syllabus. Submitting late work is strongly discouraged, but if you have extenuating circumstances, please contact me so we can discuss it. In general, late work will be graded for 75% credit.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of presenting another’s work as your own. It is important that you do not use material from the web without citing it properly in your papers. The University of Washington takes plagiarism very seriously. For more information, see the University’s policies at: <http://depts.washington.edu/grading/conduct/honesty.html>. Infractions will result in a grade of ‘x’ and be referred to the Dean's Representative for Academic Conduct.
Face Coverings in the Classroom
The health and safety of the University of Washington community are the institution’s priorities. Please review and adhere to the UW COVID Face Covering Policy.
Access and Accommodations
Your ability to engage and participate fully in this course is important to me. If there are circumstances that may affect your ability to meet certain requirements as assigned in the course and/or if you have had specific accommodations approved by Disability Resources, please let me know as soon as possible so that I can work with you to develop strategies for adapting assignments to meet both your needs and the requirements of the course. Whether or not you have a documented disability, resources exist on campus to support your education, and I am happy to talk with you about them at any point. I am also including the more official language about access and accommodations from the university below:
It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please activate your accommodations via myDRS so we can discuss how they will be implemented in this course.
If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), contact DRS directly to set up an Access Plan. DRS facilitates the interactive process that establishes reasonable accommodations. Contact DRS at disability.uw.edu.
Religious Accommodations
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).
Sex and gender-based violence and harassment
UW, through numerous policies, prohibits sex- and gender-based violence and harassment, and we expect students, faculty, and staff to act professionally and respectfully in all work, learning, and research environments. For support, resources, and reporting options related to sex- and gender-based violence or harassment, visit the UW Title IX webpage, specifically the Know Your Rights & Resources guide.
If you disclose information to me about sex- or gender-based violence or harassment, I will connect you (or the person who experienced the conduct) with confidential and/or private resources who can best provide support and options. Please note that some senior leaders and other specified employees have been identified as “Officials Required to Report.” If an Official Required to Report learns of possible sex- or gender-based violence or harassment, they are required to call SafeCampus and report all the details they have in order to ensure that the person who experienced harm is offered support and reporting options.
Mental Health Resources
The University of Washington offers a range of resources related to mental health and wellbeing. You can find information on available resources—which include 24/7 confidential mental health and crisis intervention support, options for ongoing individual and group therapy, one-time workshops, and links to off-campus resources—here: https://wellbeing.uw.edu/topic/mental-health/.
Writing and Academic Support
Improving your writing is hard, but it is not something you need to take on alone. The Odegaard Writing and Research Center and CLUE Study Center offer great options for writing tutoring and support. You can schedule an appointment to talk with someone at any point in your writing process, whether you’re generating ideas, conducting research, composing a draft, incorporating feedback, or even proofreading.
Bias Reporting
UW has a process through which students, faculty, staff and community members who have experienced or witnessed incidents of bias, prejudice or discrimination can report their experiences to the University’s Bias Incidence Advisory Committee. Information is available here: https://www.washington.edu/bias/
Basic Needs Security
If you are facing challenges affording groceries or accessing sufficient food, or if you are lacking a safe and stable place to live, please reach out for support. The University offers food assistance through a range of resources associated with the “Any Hungry Husky” program. You can order food online through the UW Food Pantry, apply for Emergency Food Assistance, find out about low-cost food available through The Bean Basket, or apply for emergency aid more broadly. A list of off-campus resources, including housing resources, is also available. If you feel that issues of housing or food security may affect your performance in this course, please come talk to me if you feel comfortable doing so.
Course Summary:
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