Italian 235: Decolonizing the Republic of Letters: Literature and Violence from Columbus to Vico

In dialogue with post-colonial theory, indigenous studies and global history, this seminar interrogates literary and philosophical texts in light of the current debate on the decolonization of knowledge and education. After tracing the Renaissance discourse about conquest and empire triggered by Columbus and the Iberian globalization, we’ll focus on the controversy around slavery and the dispossession of Indigenous people, considering how the Republic of Letters enabled and was at the same time produced by the violence of Euro-American colonialism. Readings will include both early modern authors (such as Columbus, Ariosto, Montaigne, Vico, Diderot) as well as classics from critical theory (such as Benjamin, Arendt, Fanon, Said, Trouillot, Greenblatt, Subrahmanyam).

This course fulfills the “Critical Approaches and Methodology” requirement or an elective requirement for the DE in REMS.