Transnational Literature & Criticism (Graduate Seminar)
Bouchra Khalili’s “The Mapping Journey Project”
In this graduate seminar, we will explore literary and filmic texts that cross the borders of the nation-state. Thus, we will address how crossing the border brings up questions about globalization, migration, exile, and diaspora. We will also explore the representation of transnational spaces, communities, and cities. And finally, we will focus on one sub-genre to interrogate its transnational themes: “petro-literature”.
In doing so, we will analyze the influence of the transnational turn in literary studies. How has globalization been represented in literature? How do authors represent transnational migration in their texts? How do these texts reinforce or transgress political, cultural, and linguistic borders?
Nahrain Al-Mousawi 