Literature Of Empire

AY2014/2015 Semester 2

This course will focus for the most part on literature produced in response to the British imperial project, which reached its height in the late nineteenth century but continues to have a profound influence on modern postcolonial societies. The course will examine the way in which literary narratives during this period were used to legitimize the imperial project - justifying its 'civilizing mission', reinforcing certain racial stereotypes and hierarchies, and contributing to an archive of knowledge on colonial subjects and territories. Despite these objectives, however, colonial literature is often marked by a distinct ambivalence; the course will therefore also explore some of the uncertainties and anxieties that haunt the peripheries of imperial narratives.