Imagining the Pacific
Hilary Emmett and Ed Clough - University of East Anglia
This module considers the ways in which American literature has represented the opening up of Pacific space from the early nineteenth century to the present. From the Gothic-infused visions of Melville and Poe, to the tourist gaze of Twain and London, to the contemporary perspectives of Pacific and Asian-American writers such as Sia Figiel and Andrew X. Pham, the texts on this course chart the ways in which the Pacific Ocean and its peoples have contributed to, created, and contested American national narratives.
The module develops students’ insights into issues of U.S. national history and cultural geography, and deepens their engagement with current theories of nationalism and transnationalism as a frame for reflection on their studies abroad. The first part of the module focuses on the production of the Pacific in the nineteenth-century American imagination; the second considers ways in which recent and contemporary Pacific writers have engaged and responded to the Pacific imaginary. Alongside a focus on the various forms of American literature – from novels and travel narratives, to poetry, short stories, and memoirs – the course also encourages students to engage with non-literary Pacific texts, including visual images and material culture.
The module develops students’ insights into issues of U.S. national history and cultural geography, and deepens their engagement with current theories of nationalism and transnationalism as a frame for reflection on their studies abroad. The first part of the module focuses on the production of the Pacific in the nineteenth-century American imagination; the second considers ways in which recent and contemporary Pacific writers have engaged and responded to the Pacific imaginary. Alongside a focus on the various forms of American literature – from novels and travel narratives, to poetry, short stories, and memoirs – the course also encourages students to engage with non-literary Pacific texts, including visual images and material culture.
| Imagining the Pacific Syllabus |
