Comparative Literature 191: "Historical and Speculative Fiction in the Americas"
Upper-division literature seminar organized around Junot Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and its intertextual references, such as excerpts from Nietzsche and Deleuze on theories of repetition, Derek Walcott's poetic representation of Caribbean history, and the graphic novel The Watchmen to consider the intersection of historical and speculative fiction. This course examines how historical and speculative fiction come together in three texts: Junot Díaz's The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbons' graphic novel The Watchmen, and Cherrie Moraga's play "The Hungry Woman." We will focus on the kind of linguistic play that characterizes futuristic communities, the philosophical underpinnings of speculative and historical fiction, and the historical events that give rise to the events in these texts—and how they are fictionalized. As a result, our secondary source readings will allow us to examine the theories of bilingualism and repetition that structure these novels. The assignments are meant to hone your skills in performing oral presentations and developing literature-based research projects.