Atlantic Empire:
from Colonization to Rebellion
English 232
Schedule and Resources

Department of English UC/ Santa Barbara
Fall, 2002

Professor William Warner
2507 South Hall; warner@english.ucsb.edu
Office hours: Thursday, 3:30-4:30, and by appointment.

 

Theory

10/1: Introduction to the Seminar

 

10/8: Colonial and Post-Colonial // Theory and Practice

Readings
Reader:
Abdul R. JanMohamed, “The Economy of Manichean Allegory”
Edward Said, Orientalism, Introduction, 1-28.
Mary Louse Pratt, Imperial Eyes, Introduction: Criticism in the Contact Zone, 1-11.
Nicholas Thomas, Introduction to Colonialism’s Cultures, 1-10.
Edward Said, "Narrative and Space" and "Reading Jane Austen", Culture and Imperialism, [handout]
Resources


 
Empire and Colonization
 

10/ 15: The Romance of Empire

Readings
Behn, Oroonoko. Gallagher & Stern, ed. Gallagher’s introductions are given in italics. ,
“Introduction,” 3-23
Oroonoko, 34-100
“Literary contexts,” 141-145
Dryden, The Indian Emperor, 180-190
West Africa in the Triangular Trade, 208-217
Willem Bosman, “A New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea”, 244-253
“The Caribbean in the Triangular Trade,” 326-334
Sir Walter Raleigh, “The Discovery of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empire of Guiana,” 334-337
Lord Willoughby, “Certain Overtures Made”, 346-348
George Warren, “An Impartial Description of Surinam”, 351-355
John Gabriel Stedman, “Narrative of a Five Years Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam,”377-392. `
“Britain in the Triangular Trade”, 393-401
“Petition (to Parliament) Protesting the Enslavement of Political Prisoners,” 408-414
“The Letters of Ignatius Sancho”, 451-458.
Reader: Srinivas Aravamudan, “Petting Oroonoko,” 29-70;
Presentation: Sarah McLamore on Aravamudan
Resources

 

 

10/ 22: The British Imperial Project: Empire of Liberty

Readings
Mary Rowlandson, Captivity Narrative, 63-112
Several paragraphs from Milton’s, “Areopagitica”, [handout]
Reader:
Spectator 69, “on the Royal Exchange” (Addison, Mackie, 202-206)
Alexander Pope, “Windsor Forest” (selection in Mackie, 258-266)
Alexander Pope, "Belinda's dressing table", The Rape of the Lock
James Thomson,
“Rule Britannia!” 422-423;
“Britannia” 471-480;
"Liberty” 309-311; 356-357; 368-398
Spectator No. 11 “Inkle and Yarico” (Steele)
Suvir Kaul on James Thomson, 1-8; 131-147; 167-176;
Presentation: Soren Hammerschmidt on Kaul
Resources: Empire of Liberty
 

10/ 29: Travel and Imperial Adventure

Readings
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels, Book IV
Reader:
Peter Hulme, "Robinson Crusoe and Friday," 172-222.
Resources
 
Rebellion
 
11/5: American Republicanism: the case of Boston
Readings
Gordon Wood, The American Revolution, “Revolution” 30-64; “Republicanism”; 91-138;
Reader:
Votes and Resolves of the Town of Boston, November, 1772
“Yankee Doodle”, a ballad, Spirit, 893-894
The Siege of Boston, A Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution, Craig L. Symonds, No. 3
Bunker Hill, Atlas, No. 4
British accounts of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, Spirit, 129-136.
Abigail Adams ? ? John Adams: June 16, 1775- July 7, 1775: Adams Family Correspondence, 217-220; 222-224; 225-227; 230-233; 238-240; 241-243
Presentation: Martin Rosenstock on Wood
Resources: Republicanism (Slide Presentation)
 
11/12: Declaring Independence
Readings
Reader:
  • The Declaration of Independence: the Jefferson Version, Jehlen & Warner, 858-863.
  • The Declaration of Independence: standard version, Sources, 157-161
  • Hardt, Michael & Negri, Antonio. Empire. Cambridge, Harvard UP, 2000. 160-182.
 
Resources: Declaring Independence (Slide Presentation)
 
11/ 19: The Colonized Writes Back

Readings
Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Reader:
Srinivas Aravamudan, “Equiano and the Politics of Literacy”, 233-288
Phillis Wheatley, “On Being Brought from Africa to America (1773)”; “On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield (1770)”; “To S.M., A Young African Painter, On Seeing His Works (1773)”; “To His Excellency General Washington” (1776), Gunn, 568-569.

Report / Overview on Wheatley: Soren

Resources
Website: Renascence Editions: Poems: Phillis Wheatley

 
11/26: “The only successful slave rebellion in history": the Black Jacobins
Readings
C.L. James, The Black Jacobins
Reader:
“Indian Diplomacy”, March 1768, Sources, 54-61.
Massachusetts Slave Petition, Democracy Reader, 107-108.
Report/ Overview on Matthew Lewis 's diaries: Martin
Resources
Website: Slave Resistence: A Caribbean Study (from a course at the University of Miami in Spring 2000; recommended by Martin)

 

12/3: Writing the Empire
Readings
Walter Scott, Waverley
Maria Edgeworth, Belinda, one chapter (handout).
Report/ Overview: on Edgeworth: Sarah MacLamore
Resources
Conclusion, In Which Nothing Is Concluded
 

Atlantic Empire: Bibliography

 

Seminar assignments:

  1. One seminar presentation (3 pages; read aloud and take questions). The seminar presentation will take the week's critical reading (essay or book chapter) as its starting point, offer a summary of this reading, and then develop one or more questions about the critic’s approach to the primary text. [Possible choices: Aravamudan (on Behn), Kaul, Hulme, Wood, Hardt & Negri, or Aravamudan (on Equiano).]
  2. One discussion opener: take 2 or 3 minutes to pose a fundamental question about one of the 18th century texts under discussion.
  3. Seminar paper (due at last meeting of class), a minimum of 15 pages plus a works cited list. The paper should focus on an interpretation of a literary or cultural text, and the interpretation should be carefully connected to relevant criticism and history. The text that is the focal point of the final paper will most likely come from the texts we study in this seminar. However, after consultation with the instructor, you may choose to write about another text from this period.

Required texts:

  • Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko: Or, the Royal Slave. Ed Catherine Gallagher and Simon Stern. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000.
  • Defoe, Robinson Crusoe; New York: Dell.
  • Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Boston: Bedford Series in History and Culture.
  • Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. Ed. Christopher Fox. Boston: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.
  • Rowlandson, Mary. Sovereignty and Goodness of God, Together With the Faithfulness of His Promises Displayed. Ed. by Neal Salisbury. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1997.
  • C.L. James. The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution. 2nd edition. New York: Vintage Books, 1989.
  • Gordon Wood, The American Revolution, New York: Modern Library, 2002.
  • English 232 Course Reader: you can buy this at The Alternative Copy Shop, 6556 Pardall Road, Isla Visa. Phone: 968-1055.
 
This page is maintained by Professor William Warner.
Contact: warner@english.ucsb.edu