91¶ÌÊÓƵ

English 6510

Selected Writings of Michael Ondaatje

Syllabus

 

Please understand that this syllabus is provisional and may need to be compressed/shortened for reasons of time (= short, second block).

Week 1

General Introduction: Ondaatje and the Postcolonial Diaspora

  • Deepika Bahri,
  • Paul Brians, Postcolonial Literature: Problems with the Term
  • C
    Ed. Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek (useful throughout; please see below)
Week 2 The Cat’s Table—Fictionalizing the Evolution of a Writer

Michael Ondaatje, The Cat’s Table (2011)

  • Robert McCrum, , Guardian, 27 Aug 11
  • The Diane Rehm Show, , 8 Dec 2011
  • The Cat’s Table ______________________________________
    • sign-up for student presentation/seminar facilitation, perhaps in teams of two
Week 3

Putting the J into the Postcolonial—Jazz and the Improvisations of Style
Coming Through Slaughter (1976)

  • Anatole Broyard, , NYT, 24 April 1977
  • Jon Saklofske, , CLC Web, Comparative Culture & Culture 6.3 (2004)
  • Slaughter I ________________________________
  • Slaughter II ________________________________
Week 4–5

Mapping, Homelessness, and the Aftershocks of Empire
The English Patient (1992)

  • , The Bomb
  • Beverly Curran,
  • Stephanie M. Hilder,
  • Hsuan Hsu, all in CLC Web, Comparative Culture & Culture 6.3 (2004)
  • Patient I _______________________________
  • Patient II _______________________________
Week 6–7

Sri Lanka, the Body of History, and the Divided Self
Anil’s Ghost (2000)

  • Amitava Kumar, , Guernica interview, 23 March 2012
  • Richard Eder, , NYT, 14 May 2000
  • Marlene Goldman,
  • Victoria Cook, , CLC Web, Comparative Culture & Culture 6.3 (2004)
  • Jacques Audiard, (2015) (added 6 May 2016)
  • Ghost I ________________________________
  • Ghost II ________________________________

Should you have time for additional readings, beyond the limits of our course, let me please suggest the following: (a) In the Skin of a Lion (1987); (b) The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film (2002); (c) selected poetry. I will try to integrate these texts and selections into our discussion, as appropriate.

Below are additional links to useful websites on Michael Ondaatje's work.  Please stay tuned! :)

  • " -- useful in itself, plus useful sites at the very end
  • Wojciek Kallas, - a "Polish" perspective on labor, class division, and the ardor and aesthetic and artistry of labor
  • Gordon Gamlin,  - esp. detailed on the novel's connections to the epic of Gilgamesh
  • Rochelle Vigurs, ","
  • Cat's Table: (1939),
  • Alice van Wart, Spider Blues: Solecki's Ondaatje
  • Visvis, Vikki. "Traumatic Representation: The Power and Limitations of Storytelling as “Talking Cure” in Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion and The English Patient," Ariel 40.4, 2009: 89-108.
  • Baker, Abu and M.S. Ahmad. "" NEBULA: A Journal of Multidisciplinary Scholarship.  2008: 98-109.
  • ,
  • (June 2018)

Concluding Note

 

The only dumb question is the one you don't ask. My door is always open, and if it is not open, please knock; I will answer if I am there. Please don't hesitate to stop by.

Let's Connect!


mwutz@weber.eduPhone  801-626-7011
Skype  michaelwutz007

Lebenslauf – Curriculum Vitae
Weber – The Contemporary West

Mailing Address

 

Michael Wutz, Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor
Editor, Weber - The Contemporary West
Department of English, 1404 University Circle
91¶ÌÊÓƵ
Ogden, UT 84404-1404 USA