In the present cultural moment, we are either predisposed or doomed to constantly obsess
over ourselves. Many of us have created physical and virtual spaces we deem safe to protect
ourselves from aggression, real or perceived criticism, dissent, and doubt. This tendency to
isolate ourselves takes us to interesting places: we only watch, read, and consume what feels
appropriate and pertinent to the idea of who we should be as loyal members of our tribes.
This course is an invitation to explore other ways of inhabiting personal and literary identities
taking place abroad where other historical and cultural references demand different
approaches to the task of writing fictions. Our conversation will take place under the
assumption that a broader understanding of different national literatures could help us do
away with the idea of the center (as a place of cultural or linguistic power, comfort, and
isolation) in favor of the idea of the peripheral or the edge: writing that expands, reaches out,
and even blends with other entities that may or not be writerly.
At the same time, we will try to understand how writing in these places brings about a different
degree of political and social consciousness which may or not manifest in predictable ways in
the works in question. The image of the scar (fused edges created by the exercise of violence)
will help us visualize writing that results from either personal or national trauma, which often
cannot be separated from each other.
Readings may include works by South Korean, French, Argentine, Nigerian, Turkish, or Ukrainian
authors.

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