FRS 001F —
Sec. 001 —
(1 unit) — CRN 65498 — W 1:10-2:30 PM — 126 Voorhies
What’s In A Name?
Instructor: Christopher Peterson, Department of English,
College of Letters
and Science
Description: This course will investigate proper
names as sites
of linguistic and cultural conflict. Our discussions will center on two novels
that foreground the relation between what we might call "proper" and
"improper" names: House of Sand and Fog by Andew Dubus II,
and Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. So-called proper names
are conventionally
understood to adhere to the persons or objects that they designate:
proper names
"stick," as they say. An "improper" name, on the
other hand,
might refer to a name that seems inappropriate, demeaning, or violent
(i.e., hate
speech). Or it might also suggest something of the detachability of
all names—that
is, the inherent possibility of names becoming removed from who or
what they purportedly
describe. In Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, for instance, the family
name is changed to "Dead." This death of the patronym, moreover, has
tragic consequences for this African-American family living in the
shadow of slavery.
Likewise, in House of Sand and Fog, the problem of
proper/improper naming
reflects the larger cultural and linguistic struggle between a white, American
woman who loses her property due to unpaid taxes and an Iranian immigrant who
purchases her auctioned house.
Format: The seminar will meet for 1 hour 20 minutes
for the first
eight weeks of the quarter. Students and instructor will discuss
assigned sections
of the reading each week. Students will be asked to prepare one oral
presentation
(20 minutes) on some aspect of the reading. They will also be asked to write a
final critical essay (3-4 pgs). on an approved topic.
Grading:
1/3 of the course grade will be based on regular class participation
and engagement
with the readings; 1/3 will be based on an oral presentation; 1/3 will be based
on a short critical essay due at the end of the term.
About the Instructor: Christopher Peterson is a Postdoctoral
Teaching Fellow in the English Department at Davis. He received his
Ph.D. in Comparative
Literature from the University of Southern California. Currently he is working
on a book-length project that traces the connection between kinship
and mourning
in American Literature and culture.