In this course on Indian English writer Amitav Ghoshs Ibis trilogy, we will discuss Seas of Poppies (2008), River of Smoke (2011) and Flood of Fire (2015) in detail. Set in South and South East Asia in the context of the so-called Opium Wars (1839-1842 and 1856-1860), the novels trace and interconnect the lives of a diverse set of characters that all are somehow entangled with legacies and contemporary realities of colonialism and imperialism. Important stations along the way are Calcutta, Bombay, Mauritius and Canton. Among other things, we will discuss
- the ideology of "free trade" and how it is bound up with Christianity, imperialism and liberalism,
- indentured servitude as a replacement system for slavery,
- strategies of "passing",
- Western "science" and "discoveries" in the colonial encounter and their capitalist implications, as well as
- gender roles, homosexuality, female agency and different constructions of masculinity.
- Kursleiter:in: Florian Schybilski