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140245 VO Issues in African Literature: Past and Present (2014S)
Labels
Details
Language: English
Examination dates
- Tuesday 30.09.2014
- Wednesday 29.10.2014
- Wednesday 26.11.2014
- Friday 09.01.2015
- Monday 02.03.2015
- Monday 27.04.2015
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
- Tuesday 04.03. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 11.03. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 18.03. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 25.03. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 01.04. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 08.04. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 29.04. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 06.05. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 13.05. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 20.05. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 27.05. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 03.06. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 17.06. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 24.06. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
This introductory lecture series will trace the birth and development of modern African literature in English (and partly in French), exploring the political, aesthetic, and philosophical issues that are reflected in this writing (including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry). The political issues include language choice; the representation of the colonial encounter; anti-colonial nationalism; post-independence disillusionment and the issues of decolonization; ethnic identities; the clash between tradition and modernity; the position of African women; diaspora and exile; the impact of neo-colonization and globalization on Africa; the process of canonization and the material aspects of publishing. The aesthetic issues include topics such as social realism versus experimental approaches; the imaginative framework of the nationalist novel; the structure of autobiographical narratives; Black writing model; the influence of African orality and Western forms on the African novel; the representation of trauma; the style of popular literature and the history of criticism of African writing. The philosophical issues to be explored include African identity and the postcolonial self; the position of African literature in world literature; the universal versus local; the influence of liberal humanist, feminist, Marxist, post-structuralist, postcolonialist and postmodernist discourses on these identities. Framing the discussion will be the question of how African literature can be defined and whether the term 'African literature' is useful at all in approaching writing from the continent.
Assessment and permitted materials
Essay (10-12 pages, 2500-3000 words) due to August 31by email.
dobrota.pucherova@gmail.com
dobrota.pucherova@gmail.com
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
-) Identify, analyse and understand key political, aesthetic and philosophical issues in African literature in European laguages
-) apply theory to a variety of literary texts and reflect critically on the relations between primary texts and relevant secondary texts
-) discriminate between ideas and define personal positions and justify them intellectually
-) produce well-structured, relevant arguments with an appropriate intellectual framework
-) apply theory to a variety of literary texts and reflect critically on the relations between primary texts and relevant secondary texts
-) discriminate between ideas and define personal positions and justify them intellectually
-) produce well-structured, relevant arguments with an appropriate intellectual framework
Examination topics
Reading list
1) Main secondary texts: AVAILABLE on HANDAPPARAT IN AFRICAN STUDIES LIBRARY
Tejumola Olaniyan and Ato Quayson, eds., African Literature: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory (Blackwell, 2007) - all essays listed under weekly topics are from this book, if not written otherwise.
Gikandi, Simon and Abiola Irele, eds. The Cambridge History of African and Caribbean Literature (2004)2) Other recommended secondary texts:
Achebe, Chinua. Morning Yet on Creation Day (1975)
Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin, eds., The Empire Writes Back (Routledge, 1989)
Booker, Keith M. The African Novel in English: An Introduction. Oxford: James Currey, 1998.
Boehmer, Elleke. Migrant Metaphors: Colonial and Postcolonial Literature. Oxford: OUP, 1995.
Coundouriotis, E. Claiming History: Colonialism, Ethnography, and the Novel. NY: Columbia UP, 1999.
Gaylard, Gerald. After Colonialism: African Postmodernism and Magical Realism (2005).
Gikandi, Simon, Reading Chinua Achebe: language and ideology in fiction (1991)
Holst Petersen, Kirsten and Anna Rutherford, eds., A Double Colonization (1986).
Larson, Charles R. The Emergence of African Fiction. London: Macmillan, 1978.
McEwan, Neil. Africa and the Novel. London: Macmillan, 1983
McLeod, John. Beginning Postcolonialism. Manchester UP, 2000.
Ngara, Emanuel. Art and Ideology in the African Novel: a Study of the Influence of Marxism on African Writing. London: Heinemann, 1985.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African literature (1986)
Palmer, Eustace. An Introduction to the African Novel. London: Heinemann, 1972.
Wright, Derek. New Directions in African Fiction. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997.
Tejumola Olaniyan and Ato Quayson, eds., African Literature: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory (Blackwell, 2007) - all essays listed under weekly topics are from this book, if not written otherwise.
Gikandi, Simon and Abiola Irele, eds. The Cambridge History of African and Caribbean Literature (2004)2) Other recommended secondary texts:
Achebe, Chinua. Morning Yet on Creation Day (1975)
Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin, eds., The Empire Writes Back (Routledge, 1989)
Booker, Keith M. The African Novel in English: An Introduction. Oxford: James Currey, 1998.
Boehmer, Elleke. Migrant Metaphors: Colonial and Postcolonial Literature. Oxford: OUP, 1995.
Coundouriotis, E. Claiming History: Colonialism, Ethnography, and the Novel. NY: Columbia UP, 1999.
Gaylard, Gerald. After Colonialism: African Postmodernism and Magical Realism (2005).
Gikandi, Simon, Reading Chinua Achebe: language and ideology in fiction (1991)
Holst Petersen, Kirsten and Anna Rutherford, eds., A Double Colonization (1986).
Larson, Charles R. The Emergence of African Fiction. London: Macmillan, 1978.
McEwan, Neil. Africa and the Novel. London: Macmillan, 1983
McLeod, John. Beginning Postcolonialism. Manchester UP, 2000.
Ngara, Emanuel. Art and Ideology in the African Novel: a Study of the Influence of Marxism on African Writing. London: Heinemann, 1985.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African literature (1986)
Palmer, Eustace. An Introduction to the African Novel. London: Heinemann, 1972.
Wright, Derek. New Directions in African Fiction. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997.
Association in the course directory
ÜAL 1, ÜAL2, EC-148
Vergl.Lit.wiss.: BA M5
MA Anglophone Literatures and Cultures: M-07 - Transdisziplinäres Modul (Code: MA7)
Vergl.Lit.wiss.: BA M5
MA Anglophone Literatures and Cultures: M-07 - Transdisziplinäres Modul (Code: MA7)
Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:34