ENGL 4567 - Speculative East Asias

(crosslisted) AAS 4567
(ALC-AS) (CA-AG, LA-AG)

Fall or Spring. 4 credits. Student option grading.

This course counts toward the Literatures of the Americas and post-1800 requirements for English majors.

A. Kim.

We will examine cultural productions by East and Southeast Asians and their diasporas that imagine speculative, science fictional, magical realist, weird realist, or otherwise non-realist worlds. Paying particular attention to the legacies of militarism and empire, we will consider how imaginaries of East Asia are entangled with the U.S.-led Cold War system, the post-Cold War dominance of finance capitalism, and climate change. Tracking connections between diverse regions and peoples, we will explore how Asians and Asian diasporas dovetail in their visions of historical memory, present-day crisis, and future possibilities. These speculative worlds will prompt us to reflect on the world we live in now and the histories we have inherited.