ESP Biography

Since the early 19th century, indentured laborers from South Asia and their descendants have made home in the various islands of the West Indies. In this introductory lecture, we will briefly study and compare the short prose and poetry of Tamil writers from the English- and French-speaking Caribbean to identify the anxieties, curiosities, and possibilities complicating the Tamil-Caribbean experience. Class will be taught entirely in English.

In this class, we will be studying the work of Zora Neale Hurston, Amos Tutuola, and Ki. Rajanarayanan, three writers whose fiction was informed by the study of their local folkloric traditions. This lecture is designed for anyone with an interest in African-American, Yoruba, or Tamil postcolonial literature. Class will be taught entirely in English.