English - Free topic C: The Figure of the Stranger and the Idea of Home in Literature

This module consists of two intertwined strands. We will explore the figure of the stranger and the idea of home in both theoretical and literary texts. What is a stranger? How does society deal with those figures labelled strangers? Is the stranger ‘the other’, just passing through, or here to stay? How does the presence of the stranger affect home and the notion of being at home? How can experiences of being considered ‘the stranger’ be transcended by engaging in conversation across difference and activating our human identity? We cannot think about strangers without considering the idea of home. Home is usually associated with a specific location, a grounded dwelling place that provides comfort, safety, and familiarity vis-a-vis an outside that is potentially far less stable. Within the contexts of global mobility and migration, however, the concept of home is unhinged from such a readymade meaning. What does home mean to those who travel, migrate or are internally displaced within their nations? What is at stake when home is under siege, located ‘elsewhere’ or in multiple locations? If home is a plural term, and not grounded in a specific place, what is it then? To answer such questions, a variety of ‘stranger’ and ‘home’ theory’ will be read in tandem with a selection of generically different literary texts – poetry, short stories, novels and films – that span the colonial and postcolonial eras to the current global age.