Tourist-Theorist-Terrorist
A new semester has started. I am teaching two courses, one in non-fiction writing and the other in media studies. The latter course I’m calling “Tourist-Theorist-Terrorist” and it deals with a diverse body of literature dealing with the Middle East and Islam. Here is the required reading list for the course: Edward Said, Covering Islam; Ahmad Rashid, Taliban; Edward Said and Jean Mohr, After the Last Sky; V.S. Naipaul, Among the Believers; Orhan Pamuk, Snow; Amitav Ghosh, In An Antique Land; Jon Lee Anderson, The Fall of Baghdad. Additional texts will include essays by Salman Rushdie, Christopher Hitchens, Hanif Kureishi, Pankaj Mishra, and Mahmood Mamdani, as well as several films, to be viewed by students in the library, including “The Battle of Algiers,” “Where is My Friend’s House?, ” and “My Son, the Fanatic.”
I’m still slowly making my way through Among the Believers. I don’t think many people realize how much hardwork, and how much clarity of vision, it takes to make a book like that. People are just satisfied with dismissing the achievement, and settling for a parodic simplification of Naipaul’s views.
And, by the way, I don’t think you should be too modest. Bombay-London-New York should definitely be on the class list!
Comment by Teju Cole — January 28, 2006 @ 6:19 pm
The title of the second course sounds really zany and interesting. Is this a grad level course?
Comment by mustt_mustt — January 29, 2006 @ 4:25 pm