Department of English

• Wednesday, July 19, 2017 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm

Fisher-Bennett Hall 323

V21 Summer Reading Group Series
V21: Victorian Studies for the 21st Century is sponsoring its third annual summer reading group series in 2017, with groups convening in multiple cities.  Topics are "The Political Conscious," "Imperial Forms,” and "Utopia Now!"  The Philadelphia-area group will meet at Penn on Wednesday afternoons in June, July, and August.  All are welcome!  Come for the whole series or for just one session as your summer schedule allows, and please share widely with friends, colleagues, and students who will be in the PA/NJ/DE/NY area this summer.  For PDFs of the readings, contact Emily Steinlight.

Part 2: IMPERIAL FORMS
July 19  2-4 PM
Fisher-Bennett 323 [please note room change from previous meeting]

In preparation for upcoming 25th anniversary events celebrating Said’s Culture and Imperialism: What are the genres of empire? How have critical practices absorbed, or failed to absorb, the insights and methods put forth by Said? What happens when postcolonial criticism engages formalism? How does literary form register and dynamize the contradictions of empire?

Readings:
Toru Dutt, “Baumgaree," "The Lotus," "Our Casuarina Tree" (alongside Cowper and Wordsworth)
Edward Said, Culture and Imperialism (chapter 1, parts 1 and 5; chapter 2, part 3)
Nathan Hensley, Forms of Empire (Intro)