This course offers an introduction to the West Indian novel, by survey lectures and by detailed study of eight novels. Course readings and lectures are organized around comparative analysis of issues such as the emergence of West Indian fiction in the context of political and cultural nationalism; the West Indianization of the novel form; the relationship between language and literature; the politics of race and gender; the emergence of West Indian female writers; culture and identity; popular culture, desire, and the erotic; diaspora, imagination and community. Throughout, we will pay close attention to the variety of styles and genres employed in West Indian fiction.
Course Code
LITS2504