Self, Representation, and Nation (Southeast Asian Reading and Composition)

What histories and cultural interactions influence the ways in which we view Southeast Asia today?  What can the study of literature and other artistic forms teach us about such a culturally diverse region of the world? In this course, we will explore these questions by engaging with a variety of Southeast Asian literatures in English Translation. By reading short stories, novels, plays, a graphic novel, poetry and topical essays, we will work to situate each text contextually within local and global histories of Southeast Asia. Throughout the semester we will cover topics relating to the construction of Southeast Asia as a region and as an area of academic study, questions of identity and nation formation, impacts of colonialism, as well as histories of resistance and revolution. Through the interrogation of cultural representations, students will develop the skills of observation, comparison and analysis in order to read critically, write persuasively and think analytically in an academic context.