#johan killer peter x reader

[vovoloyo]

Pretty

✧. ┊short drabble

✧. ┊ g/n. reader x yohan (alipede)

✧. ┊  synopsis : ̗̀➛ you can't help but call your feisty bf pretty

✧. ┊ warnings: none

✧. ┊ notes: i love the concept of alipede likkee.. the potential of writings i can do (〃ﾟ3ﾟ〃)

.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ ..·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ ..·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ ..·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ ..·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*

Giggles and chuckles filled the small room that you shared with your best friend. Cracking jokes after one and another. There has always been something special about your relationship with Yohan, it's something very significant that even the public notice, but he can never decipher why so.

Was it the way that you never treated him differently when he told you that he was blind? Was it the way that you were always by his side to defend him when the other kids were picking on him? He's not sure, but one thing he's sure of is that, his pale skin turns a pinkish red that warms his face whenever he thinks about it.

That was about 10 years ago.

Now that little albino boy is your boyfriend. And an assassin.

what a combination.

Recalling the memories of when you used to protect him, and now he's protecting AND earning for the both of you. The urge to giggle and kick your feet overwhelms you, so you throw yourself on the large couch that he bought you for your apartment. While you stuff your red face in a nearby pillow, you didn't even notice that your boyfriend was now sitting next to you, quietly watching.

"What are you doing?" his question came out sharp and clear, making you jump in flusteration. "Hah! When did you get here?!" you yelped. He holds out the keycard to your apartment door and slaps it gently on your forehead, "What if I were an intruder instead, huh? you would've been dead by now." Despite knowing him since childhood, he still has an attitude. "Oh, it's not that serious," you say while you start repositioning yourself towards him, "Not that serious? Do you even know what you're talking about right now?" he asks while subtly stretching out his arms by reflex, allowing you to come and sit on him. "I didn't expect you to come so early," you say while caressing his jaw with your finger. "I promised 9, so here I am at 9" he addressed.

As he finished his sentence, you cupped his cheek with your palm, "You're just so pretty, you know?" you said, slightly regretting it. You knew that this word triggered him. But who would blame you if you had a greek god as your boyfriend?

His gaze towards you changed to a confused and bothered look. "Gosh, can you not say that word? I can never understand why people say it." he retorted with an annoyed tone. "I'm sorry gorgeous, I can't help it." you giggled, "Are you doing this on purpose? because I can't see?" he asked with his eyes squinted. "Of course not," you moved your other hand to his chest, "beauty isn't always what you can see, peanut. It's something that can also be felt." You can feel his heartbeat going faster through your palm and his cheeks flushing a red tint. "Wh-" your boyfriend gets cut off by your kiss, but he doesn't protest.

You both melt into the sweet kiss you gave. His hand moving up to your waist, and the other on the back of your head.

After a session of sweet love and touches, you both pulled away to catch a breath. Seeing your boyfriend's face all red just makes you want to tease him even more. But his annoyed expression says otherwise. (he secretly enjoys it)

.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ ..·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ ..·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ ..·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ ..·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*

✧. ┊ notes: i literally forgot about this in my drafts, FOR MONTHS.

[anjeliquesworld]

Alipede/Johann x reader

Note: I kinda like writing about Alipede???😶I was thinking that Alipede would be really good at writing and the type of bf to dedicate handwriten poems 🤣

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𝓘𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓮𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝔂 𝓼𝓸𝓾��

Everything changed after meeting Johann; your whole world took a 360°. Not in a bad way.

In his own way, he was caring, giving you the right attention. He treated you like a delicate flower; however, like all things in life, it wasn't always perfect. Being by his side meant being constantly in danger, and surely, his complicated personality didn’t help.

Your mind races towards the last period—your problems with your parents, the constant fights with them because of their lack of communication and possessiveness, always wanting to control your life.

You feel trapped, caged. As those painful thoughts overwhelm you, tears start running down your face, crying silently, careful not to make a sound. Slowly, you fall asleep with the tears blurring your view.

It’s deep into the night when Johann comes home.

Walking into the bedroom you both shared, he watches you. The evidence of your tears is a clear sign that you cried yourself to sleep, breaking his heart.

He knows he’s been distant, too wrapped up in his own world. Guilt weighs over him. He walks toward your desk, taking pen and paper. He can’t fix what’s broken, and he knows that. But still, he needs you to know you're not alone.

He writes a poem full of sorrow and regret, the emotions he kept hidden spilling onto the page. The poem is a reminder that even in your pain, you are worthy of love, worthy of care.

He leaves the paper on the kitchen countertop, where you'll find it easily. The words written on it may not offer a solution, but they’re his way of holding you, silently and gently, through the storm.

The next morning, you wake up with puffy eyes, still caught in yesterday’s emotions, ready to start your routine.

As you walk into the kitchen to make breakfast, you notice a piece of paper on the countertop.

"What's this?" you ask yourself, holding the paper in your hands,curious,the weight of it feeling heavier than it should. As you read the words, the lump in your throat tightens, and your chest constricts.

Johann’s handwriting is urgent—raw

_________________________________

"𝑻𝒐𝒐 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏, 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 ,

𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒅 .

𝑰 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 ,

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖— 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 .

𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔,

𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔,

𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 —𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍 ,

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓 .

𝑰 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉,

𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆,

𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 ,

𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 —𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆."

𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒥𝑜𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓃

_________________________________

Johann watches you from afar—his apology written in the only way he knows how. His chest tight with a mixture of fear and hope, waiting for you to forgive him, or to let the poem say what his voice couldn’t.

You know he's there, standing in the hallway.

You turn around facing him—your heart caught between anger and love, regret and hope.

For a long moment, neither of you speaks.The weight of unsaid words has hung in the air for too long, heavy and unresolved.

You swallow hard gathering your courage, you take a step forward,then another and another until you reach him.

"I’m sorry,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper. “I can’t undo what I’ve done, but I’ll try… for you. For us"

You nod,your chest feels a little less heavy—without warning you jump into his arms, kissing him tenderly, softly.

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[flaresemily]

HELLO ❤️. I was wondering if you could do a Killer Peter x reader where the reader is like Peter in regards that she was with him in the 'glory' when they were you and always admired him from afar but could never go to to him. Reader always strive to be strong and was always Peter's partner on mission when they were younger because reader doesn't know that Peter always specifically asked for her to be his partner because she was the only person he trusted and so after Peter's betrayal they hunt down reader too because they thought Peter might show up to save her (but it turns out Peter cut ties with reader after his betrayal ,but before that reader knew about Peter's plan to leave the glory and she wanted to assure him she will always be there to help but Peter instead says some mean stuff to reader like him not needing her and her being a liability to him , that all that stuff they went through together on missions was just teammate stuff and nothing else like him👏being 👏 a👏 jerk to reader)So reader escapes and gets turned young like Peter and enrolls in the high-school Peter and the gang go to. So she is the new hot student everyone is talking about. So when reader enters the class to introduce her self she instantly gets her male classmates attention but she doesn't care. She goes to introduce herself to her new seat mate (who is Peter) and when she gets a good look at his face, her face turns pale with realization. So the entire period she's just silent and nervous but she immediately rushes out after the bell for dismissal releases them. You can take it from there. Oh before I forget it's former friends to lovers but reader is like a former Apostle too.

Peter x Female Reader (Romantic)

Y/n was Peter's partner in every mission like…every mission.

You were a former apostle name [name].

You are also the same age as him and you knew about his plan on leaving the Glory.

So you always supported him in that discussion.

•

“Peter! Where are you going?” A woman (you) in her late forties asked him. “....Mission” he replied.

“Oh let me uhm…join you!”

“NO!! ABSOLUTELY NOT!”

She was startled by that.

And thus, she watches him leaving alone.

That was until a few years later (just imagine it okay when Peter is 63) that she found out Peter's betrayal towards the Glory.

They send out someone to execute her.

She successfully avoided it.

There is one thing y/n always wanted to do. And that is…

To watch a movie.

And so she did, before her ‘last moment’ as she says.

‘is this how it feels like to watch a movie…I mean…this is fun right..”

A single tear dropped from her eyes.

As the movie ends, she quickly makes her way out only to feel so…well…how do we say it…ah that's right, healthy.

It's like she was as strong as when she was younger!

‘wait…. younger?’ y/n quickly feel her face and the wrinkles are gone!

She looked down and she saw that her trembling legs were standing straight up like a young woman's legs!

She quickly ran to the nearest toilet and looked at the mirror and she couldn't believe herself. She was as beautiful as she remembers!

“It can't be…”

A few hours later…

She was on her way home, when she saw her house getting burned down. She was shocked! How could the Glory do this to her!

So she set her mind to take revenge!

TIMESKIP

The school was buzzing with the news of a hot new girl in the school. Peter, who was ‘hanging’ with his ‘gangs’ , heard the rumors.

As the teacher started to introduce the new student. She stepped in the classroom.

And there Peter's eyes widened at the sight. It was his old partner y/n the one who he always wanted to propose but couldn't due to his mission.

“My name is…N/n…n/n l/n”

“N/n you may go sit with Sun-Gu.” The teacher said.

“Yes teacher!” She literally gives the ‘cute eyes’ to the teacher as if playing the innocent girl game.

Making the boys in the classroom all fall for her charm.

As she walks towards Peter's desk/table.

She greeted him with a lovely smile.

“Hello my name is N/n~” she introduced herself.

“...my name is Kim Sun-Gu.”

All the boys ‘boo’ at him for the dried response but y/n just giggles at it.

And there it was…the start of their love story once again.

After school her desk/table was filled with love letters and probably some chocolate too.

While she was ‘gossiping’ she stole some glances towards Peter and somehow they made eye contact before her gaze was interrupted by the two ‘brothers’ that tried to flirt with her.

She only giggles in response to their stupidity.

He was glad for sure.

AT THE MISSION

(The Amusement park one)

“So coach Lee said—-” Yuna's voice was cut off by y/n.

“Oh Yuna! Everyone, what are you doing here” y/n greeted them.

“Ah!! N/n! Hello!” Yuna Wave at her. *They call her n/n I write her as y/n

Y/n chuckle.

Peter could feel his heart beating loudly.

“Anyway, what are you four doing here? Isn't today supposed to be a school day?”

“Yeah you're right” Peter joined in the conversation.

“Then! I shall follow you!”

TIMESKIP AGAIN ( I'm not gonna do where Peter fight the villain cause idk how to explain it)

After they parted away from y/n.

They all decided to go to the haunted house after what Yuna just informed them.

Without noticing y/n was following them.

“Get ready…this is where our real mission begins.”

“What mission?” they were all startled with y/n voice from behind them.

Sadly before they could respond they all were out cold.

A FEW MINUTES LATER

Peter woke up and saw that y/n was infront of him. Well…fainted.

While y/n was actually wide awake.

TIMESKIP WHEN PETER FOUND PARK SANGDO (I think that's his name I forgot)

She and Yuna both witness Peter's strength.

Yuna was shocked and mesmerized while y/n felt like she recognized the strength.

Right after they were all safe. She confronts Peter.

“Sun-Gu!! Can we talk?”

“Hm? Sure what is it darl– n/n”

“You are Peter right” she straight up questioned him.

“...what do you mea—”

“It's me! Y/n!”

“I'm sorry but wh—”

“Apostle [name] at your service sir!!” She saluted him.

His eyes widened…only y/n say those things.

“...why…why did you leave? Why the betrayal…” she started to sob.

And he slowly hugged her. “And how.are you so young! Aren't you supposed to be 63?”

“Same like you” he chuckled and hugged her tightly.

“I still won't forgive you!” She remembers something and pushes him away.

“What do you mean?”

“Don't play dumb!! I still remember those words you said to me that day!”

As in cue he remembers those words.

FLASHBACKS

“Peter! Please let me follow you! Please”

She begged him.

It's true she's old but not that old! She is still in her late forties.

“I said no!! You are useless! And only a burden to me!!”

“I-am not!! I can fight well!”

“Fight well? LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID! YOU ALMOST KILL US BOTH!!

“I…I didn't mean to..” she looked down.

And he scoff at her

“If it wasn't Simon…we would be dead!!”

“I'm sorry”

“Save it! I regret working with you!”

And that's the last thing she heard.

FLASHBACKS ENDS

“See!! Remember now!”

“...I'm sorry”

“Save it! I don't want to hear—”

Her words were cut off by Peter kissing her.

She was shocked and dumbfounded.

And she melted into the kiss.

The End~

A little bit of…uh side story?

“Oi! Sun-Gu!! N/n!!” Yuna called out to them.

And they quickly act like nothing happened.

“Come on now coach Lee has called us. Apparently we have a new mission”

“Not again!” Y/n groan.

And Peter just laughed.

“Oh yeah…Yuna…Sun-Gu…can you please tell those 2 to stop giving me love letters and flirting with me.”

Yuna and Peter just look at y/n with a clueless face.

“Yes….they did…”

“I will remind them later” Peter answered while Yuna just nodded her head.

[perennialessays]

A: Michaelmas Term. The Colonial, the Postcolonial, the World: Literature, Contexts and Approaches (A/Core Course)

The A course comprises 8 1.5 hour seminars and is intended to provide a range of perspectives on some of the core debates, themes and issues shaping the study of world and postcolonial literatures in English. In each case the seminar will be led by a member of the Faculty of English with relevant expertise, in dialogue with one or more short presentations from students on aspects of the week’s topic. There is no assessed A course work, but students are asked to give at least one presentation on the course, and to attend all the seminars. You should read as much in the bibliography over the summer – certainly the primary literary texts listed in the seminar reading for each week. The allocation of presenters will be made at the meeting in week 0.

Week 1

Theories of World Literature I: What Is World Literature?...What Isn’t World Literature? (Graham Riach)

This seminar will consider what we mean when we say ‘world literature’, looking at models proposed by critics as Emily Apter, David Damrosch, the WReC collective, and others. The category of ‘world literature’ has been in constant evolution since Johan Wolfgang von Goethe popularised the term in the early 19th Century, and in this session we will explore some of the key debates in the field.

Primary:

+ David Damrosch, What is World Literature? 2003

+ ------ What Isn't World Literature, lecture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfOuOJ6b-qY

+ WReC (Warwick Research Collective), Combined and Uneven Development: Towards a New Theory of World Literature

+ Extracts from Johan Wolfgang von Goethe, Karl Marx and Friechrich Engels, Franco Moretti, Pascale Cassanova, Emily Apter and others.

Secondary:

+ David Damrosch, World Literature in a Postcanonical, Hypercanonical Age in Haun Saussay ed, Comparative Literature in an Age of Globalization 2006 pp.43-53

+ Franco Moretti, Conjectures on World Literature, New Left Review 1 2000 54-68

+ Mariano Siskind, ‘The Globalization of the Novel and The Novelization of the Global: A Critique of World Literature’, Comparative Literature 62 (2010) 4: 336-60

Week 2

English in the world/Language beyond relativity (Peter McDonald)

Primary:

+ The Oxford English Dictionary (especially 1989 print edition and online, 2000-)

+ You should also read Sarah Ogilvie, Words of the World: A Global History of the Oxford English Dictionary (2012)

+ Florian Coulmas, Guardians of the Language (2016)

+ Perry Link’s short essay ‘The Mind: Less Puzzling in Chinese? (New York Review of Books, 30 June 2016), which is available via: https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/06/30/the-mind-less-puzzling-in-chinese/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NYR%20Krugman%20on%20King%20Als%20on%20Martin%20Cole%20on%20police&utm_content=NYR%20Krugman%20on%20King%20Als%20on%20Martin%20Cole%20on%20police+CID_9def725d3263b14fe6dce4894ed64907&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_term=The%20Mind%20in%20Chinese

Secondary:

+ Jacques Derrida, Monolingualism of the Other, or The Prosthesis of Origin, trans. Patrick Mensah, 1998 (French edition, 1996)

+ Charles Taylor, The Language Animal (2016)

Preparation

A (2 students: position papers, maximum 1000 words, on ONE of the following. Please ensure both topics are covered. Also bring along a handout with your key quotations—copies for the entire group) 1. Explain the significance of the epigraphs from Glissant and Khatibi for Derrida’s argument and analysis in Monolingualism. 2. Explain Taylor’s distinction between ‘designative-instrumental’ and ‘expressive-constitutive’ theories of language.

B (all remaining students: single-sided A4 handout—copies for the entire group) Browse the OED, especially using the online feature that allows you to group words by origin and/or region, and select ONE loanword from a non-European language. On one side of an A-4 sheet give an account of the word, explaining why you think it has particular significance in the long history of lexical borrowing that constitutes the English language and the shorter history of the linguistic relativity thesis

Week 3

The (Un)translatability of World Literature (Adriana X. Jacobs)

This seminar will examine the role of translation in the development of the category of world literature with a particular focus on the term “translatability.” We will consider how translation into “global” English has shaped contemporary understandings of translatability and how to reconcile these with the more recent turn to “untranslatability” in literary scholarship. To what extent are the parameters of world literature contingent on a translation economy that privileges certain languages, authors and texts over authors? What room is there in current configurations of world literature for works that “do not measure up to certain metrics of translational circulation” (Zaritt)?

Primary:

+ Emily Apter, Against World Literature: On the Politics of Untranslatability (New York: Verso, 2013)

+ “To Translate,” in Dictionary of Untranslatables: A Philosophical Lexicon, Barbara Cassin, ed., ed. and trans. Emily Apter, Jacques Lezra, and Michael Wood (Princeton: Princeton UP, 2014): 1139- 1155. (read introduction online: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10097.html)

Secondary:

+ Antoine Berman, “Translation and the Trials of the Foreign,” trans. Lawrence Venuti, in The Translation Studies Reader, 3rd edition (New York/Abingdon: Routledge, 2012): 240-253.

+ Johannes Göransson, “‘Transgressive Circulation’: Translation and the Threat of Foreign Influence,” Cordite Poetry Review (November 1, 2016): www.cordite.org.au/essays/transgressive-circulation.

+ Ignacio Infante, “On The (Un)Translatability of Literary Form: Framing Contemporary Translational Literature,” Translation Review 95.1 (2016): 1-7

+ Lydia Liu, “The Problem of Language in Cross-Cultural Studies,” in Translingual Practice:Literature, National Culture, and Translated Modernity—China, 1900-1937 (Stanford: Stanford UP, 1995): 1-42

+ Ronit Ricci, “On the untranslatability of ‘translation’: Considerations from Java, Indonesia,” Translation Studies 3.3 (2010): 287-301.

+ Saul Zaritt, “‘The World Awaits Your Yiddish Word’: Jacob Glatstein and the Problem of World Literature,” Studies in American Jewish Literature (1981-) 34.2 (2015): 175-203.

Week 4

Literature and Performance of the Black Americas (Annie Castro)

In this seminar, we will engage with a variety of writings by Black authors across the Americas that emphasize issues of race, nationality, cultural heritage, and performance. This course will serve as an introduction into critical debates regarding the complex interchange of Afro-diasporic persons, ideas, and discourse across the Western Hemisphere. Please come prepared to share a short (approximately 200 words), informal written review of the assigned readings. This review, which is intended to aid group discussion, should place the assigned texts in conversation with one another, particularly in regards to their conceptualizations of race and culture in artistic expression.

Primary:

+ Erna Brodber, Louisiana (1997)

Secondary:

+ DeFrantz, Thomas and Anita Gonzalez, “Introduction.” In Black Performance Theory (2014)

+ Edwards, Brent Hayes. “Prologue,” “Variations on a Preface.” In The Practice of Diaspora: Literature, Translation, and the Rise of Black Internationalism (2003)

+ Harris, Wilson. “History, Fable, and Myth in the Caribbean and Guianas” (1970). In Caribbean Quarterly: The 60th Anniversary Edition (2008)

Week 5

Theories of World Literature II: Is World Literature Beautiful? (Graham Riach)

Traditional definitions of world literature are heavily based on the idea of universal cultural value. This seminar will consider some of the main issues in universalist conceptions of world literary value, particularly in relation to aesthetics, and the role of interpretive communities in dealing with distances in time, culture and language.

Primary:

+ Simon Gikandi, Slavery and the Culture of Taste (Princeton University Press, 2014)

+ Sianne Ngai, Our Aesthetic Categories: Zany, Cute, Interesting (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2012)

Secondary:

+ Isobel Armstrong, The Radical Aesthetic (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000)

+ Bill Ashcroft, ‘Towards a Postcolonial Aesthetics’, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 51, 4 (2015), pp. 410-421

+ Elleke Boehmer, ‘A Postcolonial Aesthetic: Repeating Upon the Present’, in Janet Cristina Şandru Wilson and Sarah Lawson Welsh eds., Rerouting the Postcolonial: New Directions for the New Millennium (2010), pp. 170-181

+ Peter de Bolla, Art Matters (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001)

+ Simon Gikandi, ‘Race and the Idea of the Aesthetic’, Michigan Quarterly Review, 40,2 (2001), pp.318–50.

+ Peter J. Kalliney, Commonwealth of Letters: British Literary Culture and the Emergence of Postcolonial Aesthetics (Oxford: OUP, 2013)

+ Catherine Noske, ‘A Postcolonial Aesthetic? An Interview with Robert Young’, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 50, 5, 609-621 (2014)

+ Rethinking Beauty, special issue of diacritics (32.1, Spring 2002)

Week 6

Cultural Memory and Reconciliation (Catherine Gilbert)

In this seminar, we will explore representations of conflict and its enduring impact in narratives from South Africa and Rwanda. In particular, we will consider questions surrounding the relationship between testimony and literature, how writers work to convey the complex nuances of trauma and memory, and the role of literature in remembrance and reconciliation.

Primary:

+ Achmat Dangor, Bitter Fruit (London: Atlantic Books, 2004 [2001]).

+ Jean Hatzfeld (ed), Into the Quick of Life. The Rwandan Genocide: The Survivors Speak (London: Serpent’s Tail, 2008).

+ Please also listen to: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, ‘The Danger of the Single Story’ (TED talk, 2009): https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en

Secondary:

+ Jean Hatzfeld (ed), Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak, translated by Linda Coverdale (New York: Picador, 2005). Esp. the chapters ‘In the shade of an acacia’, ‘Remorse and regrets’, ‘Bargaining for forgiveness’, and ‘Pardons’.

+ Madelaine Hron, ‘Gukora and Itsembatsemba: The "Ordinary Killers" in Jean Hatzfeld's Machete Season’, Research in African Literatures, 42.2 (2011), pp. 125-146.

+ Antjie Krog, Country of My Skull (London: Vintage, 1999 [1998]). Esp. Chapter 3, ‘Bereaved and Dumb, the High Southern Air Succumbs’, pp. 38-74.

+ Achille Mbembe, ‘African Modes of Self-Writing’, Public Culture, 14.1 (2002), pp. 239-273.

+ Ana Miller, ‘The Past in the Present: Personal and Collective Trauma in Achmat Dangor’s Bitter Fruit’, Studies in the Novel, 40.1-2 (2008), pp. 146-160.

+ Zoe Norridge, Perceiving Pain in African Literature (London: Palgrave, 2012)

+ Richard Crownshaw, Jane Kilby and Antony Rowland (eds), The Future of Memory (New York: Berghahn Books, 2010). Esp. the introductions to each of the three sections on memory, testimony and trauma.

Week 7

Comics and Conflict: Witness, Testimony and World Literature? (Dominic Davies)

In this seminar we will explore the seemingly prevalent tendency of the use of comics –that is, sequential art that combines juxtaposed drawn and other images with the (hand)written word – to depict conflict zones in geo-historical areas as diverse as Palestine, Bosnia and Afghanistan. Why have comics, a highly mediated form that draws attention to the contingency of its own perspective, been used to document witness testimonies from war zones across the world? How do comics, constructed from a sophisticated architecture of borders and gutters, communicate these testimonies across national borders, perhaps even forging alternative kinds of ‘world literature’?

Primary:

+ Joe Sacco, Safe Area Goražde (2000), Palestine (2001)

+ Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre, and Frederic Lemercier, The Photographer: Into War-torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders (2009)

Secondary:

+ Ayaka, Carolene, and Hague, Ian eds., Representing Multiculturalism in Comics and Graphic Novels (2015)

+ Chute, Hillary, ‘Comics as Literature? Reading Graphic Narrative’, PMLA 123.2, 45-65 (2008)

+ ——, Disaster Drawn: Visual Witness, Comics, and Documentary Form (2016)

+ Denson, Shane, Meyer, Christina, and Stein, Daniel eds., Transnational Perspectives on Graphic Narratives: Comics at the Crossroads (2014)

+ Hatfield, Charles, Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature (2005)

+ Mehta, Benita, and Mukherjee, Pia eds. Postcolonial Comics: Texts, Events, Identities (2015)

+ Mickwitz, Nina, Documentary Comics: Graphic Truth-telling in a Skeptical Age (2015)

+ Worden, Daniel ed. The Comics of Joe Sacco: Journalism in a Visual World (2015)

Week 8

World Poetry: A Case Study from India (Rosinka Chaudhuri)

Here, we will look episodically at the development of modern poetry in India in relation to the world; that is, we shall see how the world entered Indian poetry at the same time as it transformed poetry in the ‘West’. The very word for poet - ‘kavi’ - began to be redefined as the Sanskrit word came in contact with modernity in the nineteenth century, at the end of which we have the phenomenal figure of Tagore, who was perhaps the first ‘World Poet’ recognised as such from East to West. The decades of the 1960s-’80s - when Pablo Neruda was common currency and Arun Kolatkar sat at the Wayside Inn in Bombay - to present-day studies of multilinguality and the role of translation shall be explored to devise a notion of poetry in the world over time as it happened in India.

Primary:

+ Buddhadeva Bose, ‘Comparative Literature in India’, in Jadavpur Journal of Comparative Literature, Vol. 45; see http://jjcl.jdvu.ac.in/jjcl/upload/JJCL 45.pdf

+ Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, ‘The Emperor Has No Clothes,’ in Partial Reccall: Essays on Literature and Literary History (Delhi: Permanent Black, 2012)

+ Amit Chaudhuri, ‘Arun Kolatkar and the Tradition of Loitering,’ in Clearing A Space: Reflections on India, Literature and Culture (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2008).

Secondary:

+ Roland Barthes, ‘Is There Any Poetic Writing?’ in Annette Lavers and Colin Smith translated Writing Degree Zero (1953; New York: Hill and Wang, 1967).

+ Rosinka Chaudhuri, The Literary Thing: History, Poetry, and The Making of a Modern Cultural Sphere (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014).

+ Bhavya Tiwari, ‘Rabindranath Tagore’s Comparative World Literature,’ in Theo D’haen, David Damrosch and Djelal Kadir ed. The Routledge Companion to World Literature (London: Routledge, 2012).

+ Deborah Baker, A Blue Hand: The Beats in India (New York and Delhi: Penguin, 2008).

+ Laetitia Zechhini, Arun Kolatkar and Literary Modernism in India: Moving Lines (London: Bloomsbury, 2016)

+ Anjali Nerlekar, Bombay Modern: Arun Kolatkar and Bilingual Literary Culture (Northwestern University Press, 2016).