If “knowledge is power,” as Francis Bacon once famously said, what does it mean for the West to know the East? Knowledge production about the “orient”—the now-antiquated name that the West once gave the East—has been conceived in terms of both a second renaissance (Raymond Schwab) and cultural imperialism (Edward Said). Beginning with a discussion of Said’s Orientalism (1978) and its critics, this course goes beyond the either/or narratives and uses orientalism as a methodological prism. In this class, we work under four rubrics and ask the following questions: first, how can orientalism allow us to re-think the Enlightenment and its literary productions, most notably the novel? Second, what is the relationship between orientalism and the rise of Romantic poetry and poetics? Third, how can orientalism assist us in re-tracing the origins of world literature? And finally, how does orientalism enable us to conceive of photography as a medium?

This course satisfies the following CURRENT English major/minor requirement: Pre-1830, Pre-1900, Identity/Difference, Poetry

This course satisfies the following NEW English major/minor requirements: Foundations & Methods 300/400-level, Regions: Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, Time: 18th/19th Centuries, Time: Contemporary/Modern

Course Requirements:

The course requires regular participation in lectures in class, timely completion of reading and writing assignments, and active involvement in writing tasks. Students will post short weekly responses on canvas (a paragraph), develop an argumentative essay as their mid-term (7-8 pages), and submit a final research paper (10-12 pages).