Universität Wien
Warning! The directory is not yet complete and will be amended until the beginning of the term.

140215 VO+UE VM3 / VM4 - 'Cultural Mediators' in (Post-)colonial societies (2015W)

from Pocahontas to diaspora development experts

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 14 - Orientalistik, Afrikanistik, Indologie und Tibetologie
Continuous assessment of course work
MOB

Schwerpunktthema: MOB
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: German, English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Dr. Sara de Jong

  • Thursday 08.10. 11:00 - 14:00 Seminarraum SG1 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 22.10. 11:00 - 14:00 Seminarraum SG1 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 05.11. 11:00 - 14:00 Seminarraum SG1 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 19.11. 11:00 - 14:00 Seminarraum SG1 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 03.12. 11:00 - 14:00 Seminarraum SG1 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 17.12. 11:00 - 14:00 Seminarraum SG1 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 14.01. 11:00 - 14:00 Seminarraum SG1 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Throughout history and in the present, there have been people who have put themselves forward or have been enlisted as cultural mediators between different groups. From the famous figure of Pocahontas, who has been presented as a mediator between her indigenous community and settlers, to 'insider' migration researchers who share their ethnic background with the subjects of their study, diaspora development actors, and Iraqi war interpreters, all have taken a complex 'in-between position' in sites that are shaped by power structures and struggles. In this course, we will study historical and present examples of cultural mediators, and develop an understanding of their position as well as the dilemmas and implications associated with it.

Assessment and permitted materials

Students will be expected to regularly attend and participate, and assessment will be both oral and written.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The course aims include developing an understanding of the function and operation of in-between mediating positions throughout different periods that 1) pays attention to constructions of difference and 'culture', power relations, agency and resistance and 2) adopts an intersectional approach in tracing the class, 'race' and gender and sexual dynamics that underpin such mediating positions, and 3) attends to historical (dis-)continuities.

Examination topics

In this course, students are expected to participate actively in seminar discussions and to bring in and respond to materials relating to the topics addressed. The specified compulsory reading (book chapters and articles) needs to be studied autonomously. In every session we will discuss the literature together and critically assess its contributions. The three hour sessions will generally combine a lecture format in which the readings can be contextualised and difficult terms clarified, with interactive exercises and discussions.

Reading list

Preliminary selection of reading: Preliminary selection of reading: Scully, P. (2005). ‘Malintzin, Pocahontas, and Krotoa: Indigenous Women and Myth Models of the Atlantic World’, Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 6(3); Khan, S. 2005. 'Reconfiguring the Native Informant: Positionality in the Global Age', Signs, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 2017-2037; Marotta, V. 2011 'The idea of the in-between subject in social and cultural thought', Intercultural Relations in a Global World, eds. Lobo, Marotta and Ok; Rafael. V L. 2009. Translation, American English, and the National Insecurities of Empire, Social Text 2009 Volume 27, Number 4 101: 1-23. Giwa, A. 2015. Insider/Outsider Issues for Development Researchers from the Global South, Geography Compass, Volume 9, Issue 6, pages 316–326; Baker, M. 2010. Interpreters and Translators in the War Zone: Narrated and Narrators, The Translator. Volume 16, Number 2, 197-222; Sinatti, G and C. Horst 2014. Migrants as agents of development: Diaspora engagement discourse and practice in Europe. Ethnicities April 7, 2014; Alarcón, N. (1989) 'Traddutora, Traditora: A Paradigmatic Figure of Chicana Feminism', Cultural Critique, 13: 57-87; Szasz, M. C. (ed.) (1994). Between Indian and White Worlds: The Cultural Broker. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press; - Zastoupil, L. (2002): Intimacy and Colonial Knowledge. Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 3(2)

Association in the course directory

VM3, VM4

Last modified: We 21.04.2021 13:31