AJ18056 People in Place: Environmentally Engaged BC Poetry

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2009
Extent and Intensity
0/20/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Richard Pickard (lecturer), Mgr. et Mgr. Kateřina Prajznerová, M.A., Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ09999 Qualifying Examination
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 0/15, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
In this course we will look ecocritically at contemporary poetic representations of British Columbia as an environment and of British Columbians as a part of that environment. We will consider how BC writers have portrayed and participated in the nature/culture relation in recent years, in the context of growing global concern over environmental matters. In particular, we will examine how the traces of the touristic and mythic wilderness image of BC (and Canada more generally) relate to the kinds of immersions in “nature” to be found in the writing of Ken Belford, Tim Bowling, Philip Kevin Paul, Gillian Wigmore, and Rita Wong, all of whom engage in questions of how people and peoples can belong in and to a place. Bowling and Wigmore can be linked to the nature writing tradition and to conventional poetic modes, responding to and describing the British Columbia environment using established literary approaches. Wong and Belford, on the other hand, attempt a more postmodern approach in attempting to escape what Belford has termed the “colonial narrative lyric.” The language of Bowling’s and Wigmore’s poetry feels familiar to environmentally aware readers, but we will consider whether the more confrontational work of Belford and Wong provides a more successful way of responding to environmental crisis. We will also examine the poetry of First Nations writer Philip Kevin Paul in relation both to the colonial narrative lyric and to environmental thinking.
Syllabus
  • In this course we will look ecocritically at contemporary poetic representations of British Columbia as an environment and of British Columbians as a part of that environment. We will consider how BC writers have portrayed and participated in the nature/culture relation in recent years, in the context of growing global concern over environmental matters. In particular, we will examine how the traces of the touristic and mythic wilderness image of BC (and Canada more generally) relate to the kinds of immersions in “nature” to be found in the writing of Ken Belford, Tim Bowling, Philip Kevin Paul, Gillian Wigmore, and Rita Wong, all of whom engage in questions of how people and peoples can belong in and to a place. Bowling and Wigmore can be linked to the nature writing tradition and to conventional poetic modes, responding to and describing the British Columbia environment using established literary approaches. Wong and Belford, on the other hand, attempt a more postmodern approach in attempting to escape what Belford has termed the “colonial narrative lyric.” The language of Bowling’s and Wigmore’s poetry feels familiar to environmentally aware readers, but we will consider whether the more confrontational work of Belford and Wong provides a more successful way of responding to environmental crisis. We will also examine the poetry of First Nations writer Philip Kevin Paul in relation both to the colonial narrative lyric and to environmental thinking.
Literature
  • Gillian Wigmore, Soft Geography
  • Rita Wong, forage
  • Tim Bowling, The Witness Ghost
  • Ken Belford, lan(d)guage
  • Philip Kevin Paul, Taking the Names Down from the Hill
  • Philip Kevin Paul, Little Hunger
Assessment methods
Each student will do a short presentation on the final day (from notes to be handed in) that's intended to generate class discussion and write a brief response paper (maximum 500 words) on whether the class has affected how they think of BC or its literature.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is taught only once.
Information on the per-term frequency of the course: 9 - 13 February 2009.
The course is taught: in blocks.
Note related to how often the course is taught: 9 - 13 February 2009.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2009/AJ18056