Literatures of Migration: Past and Present

On completion of the course, students will be able to:

• problematise concepts related to the theme of migration in respect to literary and cultural theories
• independently analyse a selection of literary works pertaining to English-, French-, and Spanish-speaking literatures that have migration as a central concept, with emphasis on a comparative perspective
• communicate and argue for, both orally and in writing, their own interpretations of literary, as well as critical and theoretical texts
• reflect upon and provide constructive criticism, both orally and in writing, on the work of their peers.

The course focuses on a comparative literary analysis of the theme of migration from a diachronic perspective. The literary traditions covered in the course are those from English-, French- and Spanish-speaking countries. The concept of migration is to be understood in a broad sense, including not only the transnational migration of individuals, but also the migration of literary texts, worldviews and socio-cultural and literary concepts across geographical, linguistic and cultural borders. The course will emphasise how these cross-border migrations contribute to redefinitions of individual and collective identities, as well as of literary traditions. The comparative approach in the course aims to identify the similarities and differences that emerge in the redefinition of English-, French- and Spanish-speaking literary traditions when approached from the perspective of migration. The selected literary texts will be analysed with reference to a number of relevant theories, including postcolonialism, postnationalism, transculturality and cosmopolitanism.

The course is examined through continuous assessment of seminar activities, written assignments and a final paper.

The course consists of obligatory seminars and forum discussions. The language of instruction is English.

The Swedish grades U–VG.