European Literature II: Literary Representations of Asia in European Writings (EN3251/EU3218)

Semester II, 2001-2002

Lecturer: Dr. Srilata Ravi, Department of English Language and Literature , National University of Singapore

Course Description

This Comparative Literature module will familiarize students with selected European works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The approach is inter-disciplinary linking literature to society and intellectual history. French works will be taught in translation.

Pre-requisites

None

Course Objectives

The main focus of this course is on literary representations of Asia in European writings. The objective will be to study the construction of exotic space in these works and to examine to what extent the western representations of the East address the West itself. Said's critique established in Orientalism (1979) holds that there is a distinctive history of European representation of the colonies and cultures of North Africa, the Middle east and those of Asia (Said 1979). "Orientalism" is a way of perceiving these areas that has been supported and justified by the West's colonialist and imperialist ventures. The lectures will elaborate upon Said's initial framework and insights from various standpoints and also incorporate more recent developments in the study of colonialist and post-colonialist cultures.

The module will begin with an introduction to the Orient in the European imagination during the nineteenth century. In the first part of the course, readings will include the translated version of Pierre Loti's Aziyadé (1879). References will be made to excerpts from Flaubert's Voyage en Orient (1835). This will be followed by a detailed study of Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim (1900).

The second part of the course will look at Henri Michaux's A Barbarian in Asia (Un Barbare en Asie 1933), André Malraux's Man's Fate (La Condition Humaine 1933) References will be made to Henri Fauconnier's The Soul of Malaya ( Malaisie 1930) and to the film Lawrence of Arabia for comparative purposes..

In the concluding part of the course, a detailed study of The Lover (L'Amant 1984) will examine the Durassian vision of the East.

Course Evaluation

Tutorial participation is compulsory

Primary Texts

1. Loti Pierre, Aziyadé (New York: Kegan Paul International, 1989).
   First published in 1879.
   
   
2. Conrad Joseph, Lord Jim ( Penguin Books , 1989).
   
   
3. Michaux Henri, A Barbarian in Asia (WW. Norton, 1986).
   First published in 1933.
   
   
4. Malraux André, Man's Fate ( New York: Random House, 1961)
   First published in 1933
   
   
5. Duras Margeurite, The Lover (New York: Pantheon Books 1985)
   
   

For Further Reading

In the NUS Library Reserve Books/Readings Collection:

• Said Edward, Orientalism ( London: Penguin Books, (1978) 1995), pp1-4;166-197.
  
  
• Said Edward, Culture and Imperialism (London: Vintage, 1994), pp 62-80.
  
  
• Copin Henri, "La Langoureuse Asie…The European view of Asia" in Journal of European Studies, Vol. 29, Part I, March 1999, pp 5-19.
  
  
• Barker Francis et al (ed), Europe an its Others , Volume 1, Proceedings of the Essex conference on Sociology of Literture. (Colchester: Univ of Essex. 1985)
  
  
• Hargreaves Alec, G., The colonial experience in French fiction: a study of Pierre Loti, Ernest Psichari, and Pierre Mille, (London: Macmillan, 1981), ppl21-85
  
  
• Hiddleston, J.A, Malraux: La Condition Humaine (Edward Arnold, 1973).
  
  
• Osborne Milton, "Fear and Fascination in the tropics-A reader's guide to French on Indo-china", in Winks, Robin, and James, Rush (eds.), Asia in Western Fiction (Manchester University Press, 1990), pp159-174.
  
  
• Pratt Mary Louise "Travel Narrative and Imperialist Vision" in James Phelan and Peter J. Rabinowitz (eds.), Understanding Narrative (Columbus : Ohio State University Press , 1994.);pp199-221
  
  
• Sherry, Norman, Conrad's Eastern World (London: Cambridge U.P., 1966)
  
  
• Dye Michel, "André Malraux and the Temptation of the Orient in La Condition Humaine", in Journal of European Studies,Vol. 29, Part I, March 1999, pp 45-55.
  

References will be made to selected pages from:

• Fauconnier Henri, The Soul of Malaya (OUP, 1985)
  
  
• The film Lawrence of Arabia.

Lecture Schedule

Lecture timings

Wednesday 8-10 am

Venue:  AS7/01-01

Tutorials

Thursday 4-5pm
Friday 11 am -12 noon

Topics

1. Week beginning 21 January 2002
Orientalism and exoticism
Question: Discuss the concepts of exoticism ( Todorov) and Orientalism ( Said)

Readings:

• Said Edward, Orientalism ( London: Penguin Books, (1978) 1995).
• Todorov Tzevetan , On Human Diversity, Chapter on "Exoticism."

Photocopies of excerpts will be distributed during the lecture

2. Week beginning 28 January 2002
The exotic novel and the colonial novel
Questions:

• What are the different characteristics of the spaces described in Aziyadé?
• Do you notice the repeated use of certain adjectives to describe both the space and the people in the novel. What are they?
• Would you agree that that the Other is "feminized"? Why?
• What do you learn about the officer Loti in the novel? What historical details are you able to identify in the novel?
• Loti is the ideal Romantic hero, Comment.
• Aziyadé is a novel about "absence." Comment .
  

Readings:

• Loti Pierre, Aziyadé (New York: Kegan Paul International, 1989)
• Todorov Tzevetan , On Human Diversity, Chapter on "Exoticism."

3. Week beginning 4 Feb 2002
Exoticism and Orientalism in painting
Question:

Click on this link: Rhameses in his Harem.
Study the Orientalist painting by Du Nuoy by referring to Olivier Richon's article in Europe and its Others.

1. How is the Despot represented?
2. How are the Oriental women represented?

Compare this painting with Women of Algiers (Delacroix, 1834) and Mackenzie (Thomas Hickey, 1816). Refer to Richon's article as framework for your analysis.

Reading:

• “Representation, the Despot and the Harem: Some questions around an academic Orientalist painiting by Leconte De Nouy (1885)” in Barker Francis et al (ed), Europe an its Others, Volume 1, Proceedings of the Essex conference on Sociology of Literature. ( Colchester: Univ of Essex. 1985)

4. Week beginning 11 Feb 2002 (Chinese New Year week)
Lord Jim
Questions:

• Who are the main characters?
• What is the main theme of the novel? Why do you think Conrad chooses the East as a setting?
• How is the Eastern world constructed? What is its importance in the novel? How are people ( Europeans and Asians) and places represented in the book?
  

Reading:

• Conrad Joseph, Lord Jim

5. Week beginning 18 Feb 2002
Lord Jim
Questions:

Read the article by Richard Ruppel on Lord Jim. Would you agree that both Imperialism and romanticism fail in the book?

Reading:

• Conrad Joseph, Lord Jim

6. Week beginning 4 March 2002
Michaux’ oriental representations.

Reading:

• Michaux Henri, A Barbarian in Asia (WW. Norton, 1986).

7. Week beginning 11 March 2002
A Barbarian in Asia and Persian Letters- a comparison

Photocopies of excerpts from Persian Letters will be distributed before the tutorial session

8. Week beginning 18 March 2002
Malraux’s China and Chinese philosophy

Reading:

• Malraux André, Man’s Fate ( New York: Random House, 1961)

9. Week beginning 25 March 2002
Malraux and Duras

Encounters with the East in " fiction, autobiography and auto-fiction"

10 Week beginning 1 April 2002
Duras- subverting Orientalist imagery?

Readings:

• Duras Marguerite, The Lover (New York: Pantheon Books 1985)
• Campbell, "Marjorie Garber and Marguerite Duras -Vested Interests in The Lover"
  

Last Modified 15 February 2002