Thompson Rivers University
Department of English and Modern Languages, Faculty of Arts
ENGL 4790 – Studies in Genre (3,0,0)
Utopia from Thomas More to Italo Calvino
Course: ENG 4790-01 Instructor: Ken Simpson Email: KSimpson@tru.ca Phone: 371-5558
Semester: Fall, 2017 Office: AE 193 Office Hours: Tues, Thurs. 1:30-3:30 or by appointment
Description
Imagining a better world in which desires are fulfilled is a universal “utopian impulse,” according to Ernst Bloch. In many ways, literature itself responds to this impulse, but especially in utopian fiction. From Thomas More’s Utopia to Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed and Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, writers have imagined the peak of human potential. At the same time, imagining utopia has involved the negotiation of recurrent conflicts and contradictions: (1) the conflict between utopias as ideal communities and utopias as sites of dissent and satire; (2) the conflict between individual freedom and collective regulation and law; (3) the conflict (and thin line) between utopian dream and political nightmare (dystopia); (4) the conflict between utopia as an imagined “no place” (More) and utopia as a specific blueprint for social and political reality; and (5) the conflict between mono-cultural, large-scale “macrotopias” and diverse, small-scale “microtopias” or “pop up utopias” such as those imagined by postcolonial and postmodern writers skeptical of utopian “master narratives” that have led to persecution and intolerance in the past.
In this course, then, we will consider the recurring conventions and conflicts of utopias, situating them in their cultural contexts. In addition to the texts mentioned above, we will also look at short stories or prose selections that present some of the following: feminist utopias, ecotopias, postcolonial utopias, anarchist technotopias, and posthuman utopias involving the uploading of consciousness.
Prerequisites
Students should have successfully completed a second year English course.
Required Texts
Calvino, Italo. Invisible Cities (1972, 1974). Trans. W. Weaver. New York: Harcourt, 1974.
Le Guin, Ursula K. The Dispossessed (1974). New York: HarperCollins, 1994.
More, Thomas. Utopia (1516). Trans. D. Baker-Smith. London, Toronto: Penguin, 2012.
Morris, William. News From Nowhere (1890, 1891). Ed. Stephen Arata. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2003
Objectives
Students will have the opportunity to (1) appreciate the cultural differences embedded in utopian literature (2) develop skills in genre criticism through a comparative cultural analysis of utopias from different periods; (2) identify, analyze, and explain the use of recurrent forms, ideas, characters and images in utopian narratives; (3) improve reading, writing, speaking, and thinking skills (4) appreciate the aesthetic goals of and develop presentation skills in new media
Methods
Lectures and discussions are the prevailing methods, but small group discussions, WebProbes (short oral reports), and a
significant group or individual oral presentation will also develop and extend key ideas and concepts.
Evaluation
Essay #1 (1,000 words) 10%
Essay #2 (2,000 words) 20%
Utopia Project (Presentation) 20%
WebProbes (2×10) (Presentations) 20%
Reports on class texts 10%
Final Exam 20%
Academic Honesty
See the online TRU Calendar for definitions of and penalties for plagiarism (go to TRU Webpage/ click on the symbol in the top right corner/ enter Student Academic Integrity/ Policy: Academic Integrity, ED 5-0). Avoiding plagiarism, including on oral presentations, is each student’s responsibility. If plagiarism is suspected, there will be a meeting with me. If plagiarism has, in fact, occurred, a mark of 0 could be assigned. If the plagiarism is not acknowledged, or if it occurs a second time, the formal process outlined in the calendar will be followed.
Attendance
See the online TRU Calendar for the university’s attendance policy (go to TRU Webpage/ click on the symbol in the top right corner/ enter Student Attendance Policy/ Policy: Student Attendance, ED 3-1). Students are expected to be on time, to be prepared, and to attend regularly in order to participate fully in the learning community of the classroom. Failure to do so affects not only the student’s grade and his/her ability to learn but also the class as a whole.
Electronic Devices
All electronic devices should be turned off and out of sight during class time unless specific permission has been obtained.
Assignments
Assignments should be handed in at the beginning of the class designated as the due date, unless an extension has been approved in advance (after 20 minutes from the start of class, the assignment is late). Extensions are almost certain, but only when a request/proposal is made at least 24 hr. before the due date. When an advance extension cannot be obtained, as in cases of serious and sudden distress, illness or injury, a note could be required, but please notify the instructor as soon as it is possible. Late assignments will be penalized 5% for each business day the assignment is late. If a paper is handed in past the extension date, the paper will receive a mark of 0.
Tentative Outline
Week Topic
One Introduction to Course, Objectives, and Assignments
Two Theory, Definitions, Utopias before Utopia
Three-Four More’s Utopia: the Genre and its Conflicts
Five-Six Morris’s News From Nowhere and British Socialism
Seven-Eight Le Guin’s The Dispossessed: American Modernism
Nine-Ten Calvino’s Invisible Cities: Postmodernism and Utopia
Eleven Feminist Utopia: Joanna Russ’s “When It Changed”
Pirate Utopias, Temporary Autonomous Zones: Hakim Bey
Twelve-Thirteen Utopia Projects and Guest Speakers