ENGL 200 H: Reading Literary Forms

This course will examine representations of urban unrest through literary forms. Specifically we will study the representational politics of urban politics, space, and urban inhabitants in dystopian, Science Fiction, and documentary narratives. We will explore the ways in which are represented through literary fiction in ways that reproduce, regulate, and/or contest normative notions of racialization, sexuality, gender, and class in Los Angeles. We will read novels, short stories, public policy reports, documentary photography, music, and films. Texts might include some of the following: Cynthia Kadohata’s In the Heart of the Valley of Love, John Singleton’s Boyz in the Hood, Rusty Cundieff’s Tales from the Hood, Oscar Zeta Acosta’s Revolt of the Cockroach People, T.C. Boyle’s Tortilla Curtain, Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, Mary Helen Ponce’s The Wedding, LA Riots Commission Report, Nina Revoyr’s Southland, Luis Rodriguez’ The Republic of East Los Angeles, Hector Tobar’s Tatooed Soldier, Paula Woods’ Inner City Blues, and Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s The Garden.