English 545: Major
Authors—Joseph Conrad Spring 2012
Updated February 8, 2012
Blackboard Access
Assignments
Useful
Links
Richard Ruppel
Meetings: Wednesdays, 4-6:50pm Beckman
202
Office: 24A Wilkinson Hall
Phones: (714) 997-6754 (Office)
Office Hours: Tuesday &
Thursday—10am-12pm & by appointment
Course Description & Goals:
Our goal will be to explore the major novels and several stories by Joseph Conrad, more-or-less in chronological order, to discover how his ideas and art developed. We’ll analyze his major themes: the clash of cultures; modern alienation; the limits of capitalism and other real and imagined economic, social, and political systems; the limits of knowledge; the impossibility of real intimacy between men and women, and other themes a long-time Conrad reader might have missed. As an artist, Conrad is best known for his work with certain literary techniques: the unreliable narrator, a form of impressionism known as “delayed decoding,” and, especially, his elaborate explorations of epistemology, of how we know what we know. So we’ll spend some time exploring Conrad’s experiments in prose. I'm at work on a book concerned with Conrad's (inconsistent) politics, so I'll be especially interested in what we learn about his politics this semester.
To understand Conrad’s ideas and
art, we’ll need help, so we’ll consult the extensive criticism devoted to
Conrad’s work, along with biographies and histories.
Your goal will be to produce a publishable essay.
Required Texts:
1. The Portable Conrad. Penguin, ISBN: 9780143105114
2. Lord Jim, ed. Allan Simmons, Penguin, ISBN: 978-01-141-44161-0
3. Nostromo, Penguin, ISBN: 9780141441634
4. The Secret Agent, Penguin. ISBN: 978-0-141-44158-0
5. Under Western Eyes, ed. Paul Kirschner, Penguin. ISBN: 0-14-018287-X
Methods of Evaluation:
Responses to the Discussion Board on BlackBoard 20%
2 brief (5-7 pages) essays 20%, 25%
One 12-14 page essay due at the end of the semester 35%
Weekly Readings & Paper Assignments*:
February 1: Introduction
February 8: The Nigger of the Narcissus (1897)
February 15: "Outpost of Progress" (1897), Heart of Darkness (1899)
February 22: Heart of Darkness – discussion of topics for the first essay.
February 29: Lord Jim (1900).
March 7: Lord Jim. (First essay due.)
March 14: Nostromo (1904).
March 21: Nostromo
March 28: The Secret
Agent (1907)
Spring Break
April 11: The Secret Agent
April 18: Under Western Eyes (1911) (Second Essay Due)
April 25: Under Western Eyes
May 2: Student presentations.
May 9: Student presentations.
Final Essays due May 16.
*I may modify this schedule of readings, but I'll give you plenty of notice. We’ll also read some other short fiction.
Attendance: Missing more than one class will lower your grade unless you provide acceptable evidence that the absence was unavoidable.
Reading: This is a reading intensive course. Be sure to have the story or novel read before we begin our class discussions.
Essay Format: Please submit your essays electronically in MSWord, using MLA documentation format.
Chapman University Academic Integrity Policy:
Chapman University is a community of scholars that emphasizes the mutual responsibility of all members to seek knowledge honestly and in good faith. Students are responsible for doing their own work, and academic dishonesty of any kind will be subject to sanction by the instructor and referral to the university's Academic Integrity Committee, which may impose additional sanctions up to and including dismissal. (See the Undergraduate Catalog for the full policy.)
Students with disabilities Policy: In compliance with ADA guidelines, students who have any condition, either permanent or temporary, that might affect their ability to perform in this class are encouraged to inform the instructor at the beginning of the term. The University, through the Center for Academic Success, will work with the appropriate faculty member who is asked to provide the accommodations for a student in determining what accommodations are suitable based on the documentation and the individual student needs. The granting of any accommodation will not be retroactive and cannot jeopardize the academic standards or integrity of the course.
For February 8: Read The Nigger of the "Narcissus" and
Conrad's preface. Answer the two questions on our Blackboard Discussion
Board. And read my brief essay on homoeroticism in The Nigger of the
"Narcissus," posted in
the Documents section of Blackboard.
For February 15: Read "An
Outpost of Progress" & Heart of Darkness. Answer the two
questions in Blackboard.
Full text of Jerome Buckley's William Ernest Henley: A Study of the "Counter-Decadence" of the 'Nineties. Henley edited The New Review, where Conrad first published The Nigger of the "Narcissus."
Nearly all of Conrad's texts are available online. Check this Gutenberg site.
"Conrad First: The Joseph Conrad Periodical Archive." A remarkable resource created and maintained by Stephen Donovan at the Uppsala University, Sweden. Featuring photographs of the periodicals and books where Conrad's works first appeared. Approximately 40,000 pages of text.
The Joseph Conrad Society of America.
The Joseph Conrad Society, UK. Including resources for students.
"Conrad under California Skies" conference.
Under Western Eyes - At the turn of the 20th century, Russian political debates pitted Slavophiles against Westerners. Slavophiles believed in the fundamental superiority of Russian culture, with its Orthodox Church, village life, and peasant traditions. Westerners looked to Western Europe as a model for what Russia might become.