ENGL 3106 - Writing Southern Worlds

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2024

This course will introduce students to and deepen their understandings of literatures of the south and world literary debates. Students will encounter a range of representational forms - including fiction, poetry and film - from various locations in the geographic, global and/or post-colonial south, and including works from Africa, Australasia, the Caribbean, South America, South Asia, and islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans. They will also engage with key questions arising from various theories of the south and different ideas of southness (including the geographical south or southern hemisphere, the Global South, and the postcolonial south) along with related debates on world literature (including positions that foreground global circulation, metropolitan acclaim, and the world-making potential of literature). Through careful attention to the specificities of particular texts and locales, we will be asking and responding to questions such as: What is a world? How does literature represent or make worlds? What defines the south? Can we speak of a southern aesthetic? What prospects on the world are presented by literatures of the south?

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Course Details

Course Code	ENGL 3106
Course	Writing Southern Worlds
Coordinating Unit	English, Creative Writing, and Film
Term	Semester 1
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Prerequisites	At least 12 units of undergraduate study
Incompatible	ENGL 2047
Assumed Knowledge	ENGL 1101 and/or ENGL 1106
Assessment	Research Essay 40%, 8 x Short Exercises 60%

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Professor Julian Murphet

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate specialised knowledge and understanding of literatures of the south
2. Demonstrate knowledge of key literary theories relating to world literature, postcolonial literature, the global south, and the southern hemisphere
3. Demonstrate comprehension and analytic skills in written and oral forms
4. Demonstrate independent research skills as well as the ability to collaborate effectively with peers in discussion groups

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Attribute 1: Deep discipline knowledge and intellectual breadth Graduates have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their subject area, the ability to engage with different traditions of thought, and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice including in multi-disciplinary or multi-professional contexts.	1, 2, 3
Attribute 2: Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving Graduates are effective problems-solvers, able to apply critical, creative and evidence-based thinking to conceive innovative responses to future challenges.	1, 2, 3, 4
Attribute 3: Teamwork and communication skills Graduates convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes and contribute in a positive and collaborative manner to achieving common goals.	3, 4
Attribute 4: Professionalism and leadership readiness Graduates engage in professional behaviour and have the potential to be entrepreneurial and take leadership roles in their chosen occupations or careers and communities.	1, 2, 3, 4
Attribute 5: Intercultural and ethical competency Graduates are responsible and effective global citizens whose personal values and practices are consistent with their roles as responsible members of society.	1, 2, 4
Attribute 8: Self-awareness and emotional intelligence Graduates are self-aware and reflective; they are flexible and resilient and have the capacity to accept and give constructive feedback; they act with integrity and take responsibility for their actions.	3, 4

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Set works:

Aimé Césaire, Cahier d'un retour au pays natal [Notebook of a Return to My Native Land] [poems]; Suzanne Césaire, selected essays
Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks [theoretical autobiography]
Bessie Head, Maru [novella]
Iwan Simatupang, The Pilgrim [novella]
Derek Walcott, selected poems
Clarice Lispector, selected stories
Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker), My People [poems]
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Keri Hulme, The Bone People
Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things

Recommended Resources

Recommended theoretical and secondary readings will be made available through MyUni.

Learning & Teaching Modes

1 hour lecture x 12 weeks
2 hour seminar x 12 weeks

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

WORKLOAD – STRUCTURED LEARNING TOTAL HOURS
1 x 1 hr lectures per week 12 hours per semester
1 x 2 hr seminar per week 20 hours per semester
SUBTOTAL = 32 hours

WORKLOAD – SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING TOTAL HOURS
6 hrs reading per week 72 hrs per semester
3 hrs research per week 36 hours per semester
2 hrs assignment preparation per week x 8 16 hours per semester

TOTAL = 156 hours per semester

Learning Activities Summary

WEEK	LECTURE & SEMINAR TOPIC	SET WORKS
1. 26 Feb	World literature and literatures of the south: An Introdution	N/A
2. 4 Mar	Bending the North through a Southern prism	Aimé Césaire, Cahier d'un retour au pays natal [Notebook of a Return to My Native Land] [poems]; Suzanne Césaire, selected essays
3. 11 Mar	Some psychopathologies of the South	Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks
4. 18 Mar	Multidimensional racisms in the South	Bessie Head, Maru
5. 25 Mar	Cemetery worlds of the South	Iwan Simatupang, The Pilgrim
6. 1 Apr	The Southern archipelago	Derek Walcott, selected poems
BREAK
7. 22 Apr	Plunging into the abyss of self and world	Clarice Lispector, selected stories
8. 29 Apr	Annihilation and reconstitution of Indigenous worlds	Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker), My People
9. 6 May	Maori Words and Worlds	Keri Hulme, The Bone People
10. 13 May	How real is the world? I	Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
11. 20 May	How real is the world? II	Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
12. 27 May	Writing the Great Stories of the South	Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment will take the form of (a) short exercises completed throughout the semester and (b) a research essay completed after teaching has concluded.

More details will be provided in MyUni.

Assessment Detail

No information currently available.

Submission

No information currently available.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

This course was first offered in 2019 and student feedback was extremely positive, with many reporting high levels of satisfaction with the opportunity to be exposed to a wider range of writing than they had encountered thus far. Students also particularly appreciated preparing short written responses throughout the semester, which helped them to engage more consistently and be better prepared for discussion in class.
Student Support
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