Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
• analyse a range of literatures and concepts related to waste, and connect their concerns and modes of expression to their cultural, socio-ecological, and theoretical contexts;
• demonstrate a basic understanding of the contours of contemporary waste literary criticism;
• evince an advanced ability to perform close-reading of different textual forms leading to nuanced comparative analyses;
• enter into scholarly conversation with secondary work in the fields of waste scholarship, postcolonial-ecocriticism, and world literary studies;
• develop confidence in primary and secondary research skills – undertaking, applying, and transmitting research.
Indicative Module Content:
Readings will be grouped by region and theme (landfill, nuclear, plastics/seep). They may include some (not all) of the following:
• Short stories by Italo Calvino, Romesh Gunesekara, Teresa Svoboda, Duanwad Pimwana.
• Novels by Mulk Raj Anand, John Burnside, Indra Sinha, Karen Tei Yamashita.
• Poetry by Khairani Bharokka, Adam Dickinson, Craig Santos Perez, Kathy Jetnil Kijiner.
• Films/ Television Shows like Wasteland (Lucy Walker), Anthropocene (Jennifer Baichwal), Chernobyl (TV series).