Topic: Empire, Racial Capitalism, and Literatures of Speculation
Class Information
Instructor: Nicolazzo, Sal
CRN: 57372
Time: M 12:10-3:00pm
Location: 120 Voorhies
Breadth: Earlier British
Focus: Interdiscipline, Method, Theory
Description
This seminar approaches the literature of the British Empire in the long eighteenth century by understanding "empire" in the transnational/transimperial context of racial capitalism. This seminar aims to offer graduate students a solid foundation in the literature of empire in the long eighteenth century and postcolonial approaches to eighteenth-century British literature. Our particular focus will be on the intersections between financial speculation and imaginative speculation across multiple genres, including the novel, locodescriptive poetry, speculative history, colonial travel narratives and promotional documents, and political theory.
The books below will be available at the bookstore (and also via library course reserves, but paper copies are strongly recommended). All other readings will be posted as PDFs on Canvas.
Texts
History of Barbados (Hackett ed), Richard Ligon
Captain Singleton (Broadview ed), Daniel Defoe
The Adventures of Eovaai (Broadview ed), Eliza Haywood
The Travels of Hildebrand Bowman (Broadview ed), Anonymous