ENGLISH 204
Pacific Literature in English
Please note: this is archived course information from 2018 for ENGLISH 204.
Description
Do you know where you are? You are in Aotearoa/New Zealand, in the middle of a vast Pacific ocean boasting thousands of islands, many of which produce writing that reflects rich cultural heritages, diverse ecosystems and a way of seeing the world that is uniquely "Pacific". This course provides an introduction to contemporary Pacific literature (poetry, short fiction, novel) and explores texts from canonical Pacific writers to cutting edge spoken word performance poets. Texts will be examined using a mixture of lenses from postcolonial theory, indigenous literary studies and pacificised feminist frameworks. There is a focus on crossings of cultural and creative borders (both in terms of what we study and how we study it), diaspora and identity.
Availability 2018
Not offered in 2018; planned for 2019
Lecturer(s)
Coordinator(s) Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh
Reading/Texts
Poetry Anthologies:
Albert Wendt, Reina Whaitiri, Robert Sullivan, Eds, Mauri Ola: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English (Auckland: AUP, 2010).
Young Adult Trilogy by Lani Wendt Young:
i. Telesā: The Covenant Keeper
ii. When Water Burns
iii. The Bone Bearer
Short Fiction:
Selina Tusitala Marsh, Ed, Niu Voices (Wellington, N.Z.: Huia, 2006).
Recommended Reading
Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, Helen Tiffin, Key Concepts in Post-colonial Studies (New York: Routledge, 2001). [e-text available through library]
Michelle Keown, Pacific Islands Writing: The Postcolonial Literatures of Aotearoa/New Zealand and Oceania (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2007). [see Library: Readings and Exams]
Sina Va`ai, Literary Representations in Western Polynesia: Colonialism and Indigeneity (Samoa: National University of Samoa, 1999).
Assessment
60% Coursework; 40% Exam.
Points
ENGLISH 204: 15 points
Prerequisites
30 points at Stage I in English, or 15 points at Stage I in English and GENDER 202 or PACIFIC 100, or 30 points in Transnational Cultures and Creative Practice
