Global Literatures: Han Kang & Elif Shafak

What is the course about?

This in-college literature course explores the ways we experience global literatures of our time.
Since winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2024, Han Kang has been described as a “bold outsider” (Guardian, 2024) and there has been huge new interest in her work. We will consider how the original Korean language of The Vegetarian has been translated by Deborah Smith, to be rendered in English as “tender, brutal and surrealistic” and discuss how poetics and cultures are translated from east to west and vice versa. Reference will be made to the influence of Ovid, Roman and Greek poetry and philosophy.

A focal enquiry for both novels will be “I believe that humans should be plants” - this line from the great modernist poet Yi San, written in the Korean script hangul banned under Japanese rule, reportedly obsessed Han Kang during her University education.

In Elif Shafak’s The Island of Missing Trees, the author re-figures the Fig tree, as Adam and Eve’s ‘Tree of Knowledge’, rather than the Apple tree of western philosophical thought. Listening to the Fig tree’s female voice, alongside those of the human characters in the novel allows us to re-centre the story on both Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot sensibilities and consider the emotional cost of removing, destroying and replanting trees (and families) in different contexts.

Biography:
Dr. Lizzy Attree is co-founder of the Safal Kiswahili Prize for African Literature. She has a PhD from SOAS, University of London, and has taught African literature at Kings College London, has taught at Goldsmith's and currently teaches Narratives of Change at Richmond, the American University in London. She is the author of Blood on the Page (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010), a collection of interviews with the first African writers from Zimbabwe and South Africa to write about HIV and AIDS.

What will we cover?

In these two novels we will chart the intertextual connections of texts across languages, territories and histories.
We will consider how texts circulate, via land and sea, and develop a broad awareness of how contemporary literature moves across cultural and linguistic boundaries to become global literature. We will develop an understanding of the debates and ideas that have shaped the study of ‘global literatures.’

Key topics considered are: Translation, Patriarchy, Resistance, Female bodies, desire and beauty standards, as well as the environment, generational memory, religion, the archeology of literature, bones, roots, and trees, but most of all love and how it shapes, damages and heals us all.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

-Gain an understanding of the importance of Han Kang and Elif Shafak as feminist writers.
-Critically analyse the two novels, developing a more confident and informed approach to reading.
-Understand the importance of secondary reading material in supporting your critical engagement.
-Begin to develop an understanding of issues of translation, local and historical context.
-Have a knowledge of some major themes and issues within the two novels.
-Consider the influence of global and local religions including Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.
-Unlock knowledge about a range of contemporary novels from around the world.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

You will have an interest in or even enthusiastic passion for literature from around the world, and a willingness to develop your critical enjoyment of novels, but no previous skills or knowledge are required for this course. Some preparatory reading will be necessary before each class, and a willingness to participate in class discussions, while also respectfully listening and responding to others is desirable.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

This class will be held in 2 hr sessions over a two-week period. Each session will be divided into an interactive short lecture with power point, as well as large and small group workshop and discussion focussing on the novels in more detail. Class preparation in advance is required by reading the set novels and any supplementary reading provided for that session. There will be encouragement to share your own responses and ideas about the texts as well as ways to re-consider the texts after reading.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

Please purchase or borrow the following two books:

Han Kang (2007) The Vegetarian (Portobello/Granta – reprints will have followed 2024 Nobel Prize win)

Elif Shafak (2021) The Island of Missing Trees (Penguin Random House)

Any other material (digital or links to set readings) will be provided by the tutor.

Often books can be bought second-hand on, for instance, Abebooks.co.uk, https://uk.bookshop.org/ Ebay.co.uk, Hive.co.uk, Wob.com.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

Look for other literature courses on our website under history,culture and writing/literature at www.citylit.ac.uk.