Aims

In this module we will explore the inter-disciplinary connections between the field of human rights (law, philosophy, advocacy) and modern literature. We will attempt to understand how the totalizing reach of postwar human rights discourse, enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is both enabling and troubling, when considering the representation of atrocity and dehumanization outside of Western locations. We locate the beginnings of this discourse in Joseph Conrad’s ambivalent critique of imperialism in his 1899 novella Heart of Darkness. Human rights became established as a fundamental principle of international law in the wake of the Holocaust and the Second World War, and Primo Levi’s If This is a Man (1958) narrates how this event provoked a profound crisis in the notion of the human. We then move on to consider more contemporary texts set in Palestine, Algeria, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, India, and Sri Lanka, and examine how their narratives of displacement, civil war and atrocity both invoke and question the need for “human rights”. We look at how texts across the imperial divide sketch out global forms of solidarity, inter-racial allyship, and resistance to fascism, imperialism, and state terror. But can such a universal project ever be truly liberating without becoming yet another version of neocolonial liberalism? How do human rights relate to European imperialism more generally? How do we read the geo-political specificities of the authors’ stories against the backdrop of humanitarian intervention and a desire for these narratives to speak to a global audience? We will also consider the forms that such narratives engage with, such as testimony, autobiography, medical case histories, and legal narratives. Please note some of the texts are English-language translations from the original, and that this list is purely indicative, as texts may change from year to year.

Outline Of Syllabus

These are some suggested primary texts that may be included in the syllabus (texts may change from year to year):

1.       Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1899).
2.       Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
3.       Primo Levi, If This is A Man (1958).
4.       Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, selected essays (1961).
5.       Michael Ondaatje, Anil’s Ghost (2000).
6.       Bama, Karukku, 2nd edition (2003).
7.       Raja Shehadeh, Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape (2007).
8.       Aminatta Forna, The Memory of Love (2010).
9.       Maaza Mengiste, The Shadow King (2019).

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The weekly lectures provide the contextual basis and the theoretical background for the students to learn about human rights in literature. The lectures will include an analysis of the texts on the syllabus. They will also examine events and political-social processes that have marked the recent history of human rights discourse and which are represented in literature. The seminars are forums where the students discuss the primary texts, in relationship to topics raised in the lectures, while bringing in secondary reading that relates to the set texts. Students also meet in informal study groups, before the seminars, and collaboratively prepare a written handout to be presented by a spokesperson of the study group to the whole class. They also work together in smaller groups to organize a student-led seminar once a semester.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

This module covers a large number of literary texts, and engages with a number of theoretical and critical concepts. While providing a solid general framework through the lectures and seminar discussions, it also encourages students to forge their own connections between the texts. For this reason, it is felt that the best method of assessment in relation to the learning and skills outcomes is a submitted essay of 3,500 words (worth 80% of the mark), since it will allow students the scope to develop an independently researched essay, incorporating both primary and secondary material. The essay will be marked according to the School assessment criteria for academic work, which will be linked to the Canvas site of the module.

20% of the module mark will be assessed by a portfolio of exercises. These will consist of 2 components, both equally weighted:

1) Class participation, as this is also felt to be crucial for the learning outcomes, since it will help students learn to engage in an academic debate around literature and literary scholarship around human rights. These will be assessed by the School criteria for participation, which will be linked to the Canvas site of the module.

2) An interactive seminar group activity that will help students to learn how to prepare an oral presentation and develop skills in collaborative teamwork and discussion. Assessment criteria for the student-led activity will be posted on the Canvas site of the module.

There is also a mid-module formative essay that is designed to help students prepare for the final essay.