Nation and Narration

COREP-AD 31.
Instructor: Harshana Rambukwella
e-mail: hsr3633@nyu.edu
Credit hours: 4
Prerequisites (if any) or Co-requisites (if any): No prerequisites
Spring semester 2023
Class hours:
Office hours:
Course Description:

Nation and nationalism were dominant concerns in global scholarship from the 80’s to
90’s. But they have receded from academic conversations in the 2000s as ‘post-
national’ thinking became dominant. However, the world over there has been a
resurgence of nationalist movements. In light of these changing global dynamics, we
interrogate how the nation is ‘narrated’. Nations are ontological fictions but are also
‘real’ in a very significant sense – people literally die and kill for them.

In this course we explore the duality of the nation through the notion of narration.
Narratives ‘construct’ nations (or imagine them into being) and nations are also
‘represented’ in narratives because they are seen as ‘real’ objects. We will explore the
literary, aesthetic and political implications of the ways in which nation and narration
are intertwined in a range of texts spanning diverse cultures, historical periods, genres
and styles. In doing so we will ask how has nation and nationalism been theorized?
What are the relationships between decolonization, nationalism and postcolonialism?
How do minorities and migration shape nations? We will conclude with reflections on
thinking ‘beyond’ the nation.
Reading-list
Required texts:

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of

Nationalism (London & New York: Verso, 1983). Chapter 1, ‘Introduction’
(1-7), and Chapter 2, ‘Cultural Roots’ (9-36).

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Half of a Yellow Sun. (New York: Knopf, 2006)

Bhabha, Homi. ed. Nation and Narration (London & New York: Routledge, 1990);
essays by Bhabha, ‘Introduction’ (pp.1-7), and Bhabha, ‘Dissemination’
(pp.291-322)

Carey, Peter. Jack Maggs. (London: Faber and Faber, 2006)

Fanon Frantz. 1971. “The Pitfalls of National Consciousness”, In Wretched of the
Earth. Middlesex, England: Penguin. 119-165

Friel, Brian. Translations. (London: Faber and Faber, 1981)*

Hall Stuart. ‘Cultural identity and diaspora’. In Identity, community, culture,

difference, ed., Jonathan Rutherford. (Lawrence and Wishart: London, 1990)

Hughes, Langston. ‘I, too, sing, America’*

Iñárritu, Alejandro González. Babel (2006 – movie)

Karunatilaka, Shehan. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (London: Sort of Books,
2021)

Kipling, Rudyard. ‘The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes’ (Plain Tales from the
Hills)*

Mistry, Rohinton. A Fine Balance (London: Faber and Faber, 1996)

Mukherjee, Bharati. Jasmine (New York: Grove Press, 1989)

Nehru, Jawarhalal. ‘A Tryst with Destiny’. (14 August 1947)*

Ngũgĩ, Wa Thiong’o. 1986. “The Language of African Literature”. In Decolonizing

the Mind. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann Books. 4-33

Renan, Ernest. ‘What is a nation’’ (1882)*

Rushdie, Salman. ‘The Riddle of Midnight: India, August 1987’ (pp. 318-324, in,
Nations and Identities: Classic Readings, ed., Vincent. B. Pecora, 2001)*

Scott, Walter. ‘Patriotism’*

Selvadurai, Shyam. Funny Boy (movie, 2020)

Tagore¸ Rabindranath. ‘Nationalism in India’ (1917) *

Yeats, William Butler. ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’ *

Texts marked with an asterisk* are short pieces which will be made available on
Brightspace.

Supplementary reading:
Ahmad, Aijaz. “Jameson’s Rhetoric of Otherness and the ‘National Allegory.’” Social
Text, no. 17 (1987): 3–25. https://doi.org/10.2307/466475.
Brenan, Timothy. ‘The National Longing for Form’. In Nation and Narration, ed.,
Homi K. Bhaba (London: Routledge, 1990 pp. 44-70
Chatterjee, Partha. Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World: A Derivative
Discourse? (London: Zed Books for the United Nations University, 1986) (U
of Minnesota Press, 1993). Chapter 1, ‘Nationalism as a Problem in the
History of Political Ideas’
Chatterjee, Partha.Nation and Its Fragments (Princeton UP, 1993) Chapter 1, ‘Whose
Imagined Community?’
Cheah, Pheng. Spectral Nationality: Passages of Freedom from Kant to Postcolonial
Literatures of Liberation (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003).
Chapter 5 (235-247); from Chapter 6 (249-280).
Cheah, Pheng and Bruce Robbins. Cosmopolitics: Thinking and Feeling Beyond the
Nation (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998) Introduction, Part
I and II pp. 1-20.

Hobsbawm, Eric. ‘Introduction: Inventing Traditions’ in Inventing Traditions, ed.

Eric Hobsbawm and Terrence Ranger. (Cambridge NY: Cambridge UP, 1983)
pp. 1-14

Jameson, Frederic.‘Third-World Literature in the Era of Multinational Capitalism,’

Social Text, No. 15 (Autumn, 1986), pp. 65-88.
Mufti, Aamir R. ‘The Aura of Authenticity’. Social Text 2000: 87 – 103.

Rambukwella, H.S. ‘Violent places: The politics of ‘framing’ postcolonial violence.’

Postcolonial Text 17 (2 & 3)

Said, Edward. ‘Yeats and Decolonization’ in Terry Eagleton et al, Nationalism,

Colonialism and Literature (Minneapolis: U of Minnesota Press, 1990)
Thieme, John. ‘Introduction’, in, Postcolonial Con-Texts : Writing Back to the Canon,
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2002. ProQuest Ebook Central,
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nyulibrary-
ebooks/detail.action?docID=3002896
Thieme, John. ‘Turned upside down? Dickens’s Australia and Peter Carey’s Jack
Maggs’ Postcolonial Con-Texts : Writing Back to the Canon, Bloomsbury
Publishing Plc, 2002. ProQuest Ebook Central,
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nyulibrary-
ebooks/detail.action?docID=3002896.

Yuval-Davis, Nira. Gender and Nation (Sage, 1997). Chapter 1, ‘Theorizing Nation
and Gender’.

The relevant extracts from the books above will be available on Brightspace, along
with the short texts in the ‘required’ list.
Intended Learning Outcomes of the course:
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
• Understanding the role narratives (as discourses) play in imagining, producing
and sustaining nation and nationalism (PLO 1)
• Understand and critically evaluate the relationship between literary and
aesthetic forms and nation and nationalism (PLO 4)
• Develop skills in critical close reading and in turn grasp how micro-level
features of texts are connected to broader thematic concerns (PLO 1)
• Critically apprehend nationalism as a dominant socio-political and cultural
form in contemporary life. (PLO 4)
• Critically grasp the complex interplay between literature and the contexts that
produce them and acquire the skills to contextualize literature. (PLO 4)
• Understand how nation and nationalism can create structures of inclusion and
exclusion. (PLO 4)
• Develop a critical grasp of the notion of ‘cosmopolitanism’ and how it stands
in relation to nationalism. (PLO 4)
• Develop the skills to express to communicate an extended academic argument
in a logically structured manner using appropriate academic language both
verbally and in writing. (PLO 2)

Teaching and Learning Methodologies

Lecture, seminar, discussion, writing, class presentations.

Course requirements:

• Attendance and participation in class discussion: 10%

• Class presentation I (research paper on a subtopic) (1000 words): 15%

(following the presentation, the draft needs to be submitted and feedback will
be given but there is no requirement for revision) – presentations during week
starting, Monday 20 February

Each student will do a 10-minute presentation and PowerPoint, or other visual

aids may be used. The presentation will be assessed based on evidence of the
amount of independent research done into the topic, the relevance of the
research, ability to relate the research to the topic and organization, clarity and
coherence of the overall presentation.

• Class presentation II (critical analysis of a text or set of texts) (1000 words):

20% (This presentation will have to be revised, written up and submitted in the
form of an essay after it is presented in class). – presentations during week
starting, Monday 13 March

Each student will do a 10-minute presentation and PowerPoint, or other visual

aids may be used. The presentation will be assessed based on evidence of the
student’s ability to critically respond to a text or set of texts and the overall
organization, clarity and coherence of the presentation. 50% of the marks will
 come from the presentation while the 1000-word essay will receive the
balance 50%. The essay needs to be presented coherently and written
according to academic conventions.

• Mid-term paper: 25% (1500 words) – due Friday 07 April

• Final term paper: 30% (2000 words) – due Sunday 30 April

Both term papers are expected to follow standard conventions of academic writing
and need to have a clear thesis which is developed as an extended argument
throughout the essay. The student should demonstrate the ability to draw on the
primary and secondary texts discussed in the course in addition to incorporating
material from independent research. Persuasive, coherent and insightful discussion
will receive added merit.

Schedule of classes:
Week 1.1: Introduction and course overview: The nation, nationalism and
narration

Renan, Ernest. ‘What is a nation’’

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of

Nationalism (London & New York: Verso, 1983). Chapter 1, ‘Introduction’
(1-7), and Chapter 2, ‘Cultural Roots’ (9-36).

Week 1.2: The nation nationalism and narration, contd.

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of

Nationalism (London & New York: Verso, 1983). Chapter 1, ‘Introduction’
(1-7), and Chapter 2, ‘Cultural Roots’ (9-36). Contd.

Bhabha, Homi. ed. Nation and Narration (London & New York: Routledge, 1990);
essays by Bhabha, ‘Introduction’ (pp.1-7)

Week 2.1: Patriotism and its discontents

Scott, Walter. ‘Patriotism’

Tagore¸ Rabindranath. ‘Nationalism in India’ (1917)

Fanon Frantz. 1971. “The Pitfalls of National Consciousness”, In Wretched of the

Earth. Middlesex, England: Penguin. 119-165
Week 2.2: Decolonization and nationalism

Kipling, Rudyard. ‘The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes’ (Plain Tales from the
Hills)

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Half of a Yellow Sun. (New York: Knopf, 2006)

Week 3.1: Decolonization and nationalism contd.

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Half of a Yellow Sun. (New York: Knopf, 2006), contd.

Ngũgĩ, Wa Thiong’o. 1986. “The Language of African Literature”. In Decolonizing

the Mind. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann Books. 4-33

Week 3.2: Postcolonial nation-states, nationalism and the violence of state

building.

Nehru, Jawarhalal. ‘A Tryst with Destiny’. (14 August 1947)

Mistry, Rohinton. A Fine Balance (London: Faber and Faber, 1996)

Week 4.1: Postcolonial nation-states, nationalism and the violence of state

building, contd.

Mistry, Rohinton. A Fine Balance (London: Faber and Faber, 1996), contd.
Rushdie, Salman. ‘The Riddle of Midnight: India, August 1987’ (pp. 318-324, in,

Week 4.2: Review

Week 5.1: Class presentations

Week 5.2: Postcolonial nationalism and identity politics

Karunatilaka, Shehan. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (London: Sort of Books,
2021)

Week 6.1: Postcolonial nationalism and identity politics, contd.

Karunatilaka, Shehan. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (London: Sort of Books,
2021)
Week 6.2: Nation, nationalism and ‘postcoloniality’ in ‘settler contexts’

Carey, Peter. Jack Maggs. (London: Faber and Faber, 2006)

(This will also include a brief discussion of the ‘colonial original’ that informs this
novel – Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. However, student’s are not require to
read Great Expectations.)

Week 7.1: Nation, nationalism and ‘postcoloniality’ in ‘settler contexts’, contd.

Carey, Peter. Jack Maggs. (London: Faber and Faber, 2006), contd

Week 7.2: Nations, histories and traditions

Friel, Brian. Translations. (London: Faber and Faber, 1981)

Said, Edward. ‘Yeats and Decolonization’ in Terry Eagleton et al, Nationalism,

Colonialism and Literature (Minneapolis: U of Minnesota Press, 1990)

Week 8.1: Class presentations

Week 8.2: Nations, histories and traditions, contd.

Friel, Brian. Translations. (London: Faber and Faber, 1981), contd.

Yeats, William Butler. ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’

Hobsbawm, Eric. ‘Introduction: Inventing Traditions’ in Inventing Traditions, ed.

Eric Hobsbawm and Terrence Ranger. (Cambridge NY: Cambridge UP, 1983)
pp. 1-14

Week 9.1: ‘Inventing nations’

Class discussion on how nations are ‘branded’ and marketed with the UAE and
Singapore as examples.
The week prior to the class students will be asked to contribute to a short (100 word)
forum on Brightspace and the class discussion will follow on from the forum
contributions). Forum contribution will require students to do some basic research on
the internet.

March 12 – 22 Final exams plus spring break

Week 9.2: Nation, migration and diaspora and (un)belonging

Hall Stuart. ‘Cultural identity and diaspora’. In Identity, community, culture,

difference, ed., Jonathan Rutherford. (Lawrence and Wishart: London, 1990)

Week 10.1: Women, gender, queer identities and the nation

Mukherjee, Bharati. Jasmine (New York: Grove Press, 1989)

Yuval-Davis, Nira. Gender and Nation (Sage, 1997). Chapter 1, ‘Theorizing Nation
and Gender’.

Week 10.2: Women, gender, queer identities and the nation

Selvadurai, Shyam. Funny Boy (movie, 2020)

Week 11.1: Review

Week 11.2: Is nationalism a ‘third world’ problem?

Jameson, Frederic.‘Third-World Literature in the Era of Multinational Capitalism,’

Social Text, No. 15 (Autumn, 1986), pp. 65-88.

Ahmad, Aijaz. “Jameson’s Rhetoric of Otherness and the ‘National Allegory.’” Social
Text, no. 17 (1987): 3–25. https://doi.org/10.2307/466475

Week 12.1: Thinking and feeling beyond the nation?

Iñárritu, Alejandro González. Babel (2006 – movie)

Week 12.2: Thinking and feeling beyond the nation? Contd.

Iñárritu, Alejandro González. Babel (2006 – movie)

Cheah, Pheng and Bruce Robbins. Cosmopolitics: Thinking and Feeling Beyond the
Nation (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998) Introduction, Part
I and II pp. 1-20.

Week 13.2: Thinking and feeling beyond the nation? Contd.

Ho, Louise. ‘Home to Hong Kong’

Hughes, Langston. ‘I, too, sing, America’
Cheah, Pheng and Bruce Robbins. Cosmopolitics: Thinking and Feeling Beyond the
Nation (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998) Introduction, Part
I and II pp. 1-20.

Week 14.1: Globalization, a post-nationalist world? or the return of nationalism

– critically reassessing the possibilities in light of our previous
discussions

Week 14.2: Review and recap

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