I found a short essay on this African epic in the anthology of lectures from the Dallas Institute.
It could be a good text to teach for World Lit. Since it was recorded in 1950 it definitely fits the time frame and I like the idea of teaching something from the epic genre. Now I need to read the text and see if I can get a handle on it.
Interesting scholarly material including study questions here:
http://athena.english.vt.edu/~carlisle/Postcolonial/MwindoEpic.html
Other ideas for African Lit: I keep hearing the title Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
I want to read it.
I’m thinking The House of the Spirits for South American.
I’d like to do something Russian. Maybe Crime and Punishment or Note from Underground
Do I have to tackle the material in chronological order? I’d almost rather not.
Do I want to cover lyric poetry and short fiction? drama? It almost sound nice to stick to novels and epic.
What about Omeros? Might be a good piece. Or something else by Walcott.
I’m tempted to teach Beloved just because i want to talk about it some more.
I know nothing about Asian literatures. Do I need to force it? It seems wrong to do a world Lit class and ignore the most populous contintent. But I refuse to pick a text just to fulfill a diversity requirement. I need something worthwhile. The anthologies are no help. I don’t trust the editors’s tastes.