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[paddington_bear]

I wasn't sure whether to put this in "In the Classroom" or here, but it's not really a classroom question as much as a reading question. I'm thinking about re-envisioning a class for next spring (I know, I know). The class is an English course, but all majors end up in it since it's a general education course; this semester I have no majors in the class. It's primarily composed of freshmen and sophomores and is supposed to expose students to fiction - novels and short stories, or even fairy tales -  from different time periods and different geographical regions. Professors can center the course on whatever theme they would like, so I was thinking of focusing on either the notion of "home," either as a literal structure, or as a homeland, or "community."  I might think about texts that focus on aspects of community later, so for now I'm thinking about home/homeland.

With that as a preamble, I've composed a partial list of texts - some that I've read, some that I haven't - to pull from, but it's pretty US/European-centric. Some of the texts that I've thought of are below. Anyone have any suggestions for more "world literature" texts, either novels or short stories, that deal with issues of home/homeland. Any before the 19th century would be ideal too.

"The Fall of the House of Usher," Edgar Allan Poe
The Castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole
The Story of an African Farm, Olive Schreiner
The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
The House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus
"The Lovely House," Shirley Jackson
"The Veldt," Ray Bradbury
The House of Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Brown girl, brownstones, Paula Marshall
The House of Spirits, Isabel Allende

Thanks in advance!

[dr_alcott]

These come to mind:

"The Revolt of 'Mother'" and/or "A New England Nun," Mary Wilkins Freeman
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs
The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton
Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson
The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri
Room, Emma Donoghue
Reservation Blues, Sherman Alexie
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison

Wait--these are all American (except Donoghue, who's Canadian). I'll post then anyway, just in case.

[yellowtractor]

I was going to mention Jacobs, Robinson, and Alexie!  Dr. Alcott, we think alike.  (Jacobs works especially well in this context, given her extended confinement.)

[gimpnik]

Relevant to the "community" theme, perhaps Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez?

[verbena]

Must it absolutely be fiction, pure fiction? Because I reread Joseph Brodsky's "In a Room and a Half" recently and would urge you to change your course around as much as you have to just so that you can assign that.

And/or: Evgenii Zamiatin's We.

[paddington_bear]

Thanks for the recommendations so far! 

verbena, it does have to be fiction. Not my choice; it was predetermined by the department eons ago. I could probably include Brodsky to offer some sort of context or background, though. Since I'm not familiar with the essay, though, I'll look it up . I'm not familiar with Zamiatin either - which is the reason I made this post - so I'll look that one up as well. Thanks!

[fourhats]

Marilynne Robinson, Home.

[mended_drum]

"Those Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Le Guin

[aandsdean]

The Flea Palace, by Elif Shafak (Turkish)--it's a little long, but it's really interesting

The Yacoubian Building, Alaa Al Aswany (Egypt)--also an "apartment" novel

[arizona]

The Odyssey

Chaucer, The House of Fame

Karen Russell's strange and fantastic short story, "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves"

The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson

Homecoming, Cynthia Voigt (this is a YA novel, so probably not what you're looking for, but it's quite lovely)

And I second (third?) Robinson's Housekeeping.

[the_honey_badger]

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz   Frank Baum

(don't ask me why, I've never read it but "home" and getting back to it is central)

[paddington_bear]

arizona, fourhats recommended Robinson's Home. You're suggesting her Housekeeping instead?  Also, I'd use The Odyssey, but our department also offers a general education course on the epic, which The Odyssey more accurately is, I think. That doesn't mean I couldn't teach it in a novels class, of course....

belowtheradar,  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a great choice. So obvious, that I missed it.

aandsdean, great suggestions that I'm unfamiliar with!

mended_drum, read the description of the story, and it sounds interesting. I'm vaguely familiar with le guin already, so I'll be checking this out!

[changinggears]

Here's two excerpts on the meaning of home that I've used quite successfully.  Often, I will have students compare/contrast definitions of home and these two work very well:

The Meaning of Home by John Berger
http://grammar.about.com/od/shortpassagesforanalysis/a/bergerhomepass.htm

Pioneers: A View of Home Niki Giovanni
http://grammar.about.com/od/shortpassagesforanalysis/a/giovannipass07.htm

[verbena]

Two more terrific British possibilities (sorry):

Edward Carey, Observatory Mansions
Willam Trevor, The Boarding House
 

[arizona]

arizona, fourhats recommended Robinson's Home. You're suggesting her Housekeeping instead?  Also, I'd use The Odyssey, but our department also offers a general education course on the epic, which The Odyssey more accurately is, I think. That doesn't mean I couldn't teach it in a novels class, of course....

yellowtractor and dr_alcott recommended Housekeeping, so I was seconding them. It's a much better novel than Home, I think--and despite the title, both the idea of home and the physical home itself are central to the plot.