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140280 VO Issues in African Literature: Past and Present (2015S)
Labels
Details
Language: English
Examination dates
- Tuesday 04.08.2015
- Monday 07.09.2015
- Friday 18.09.2015
- Tuesday 22.09.2015
- Wednesday 07.10.2015
- Monday 11.01.2016
- Thursday 14.04.2016
- Monday 13.06.2016
- Friday 25.11.2016
- Monday 12.12.2016
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
- Tuesday 10.03. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 17.03. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 24.03. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 14.04. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 21.04. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 28.04. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 05.05. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 12.05. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 19.05. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 02.06. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 09.06. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 16.06. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 23.06. 15:00 - 17:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-03
- Tuesday 30.06. 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 a wide range of political, aesthetic, and philosophical issues reflected in this writing (including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry). The political issues include language choice; anti-colonial nationalism; post-independence disillusionment and the issues of decolonization; the history of criticism of African writing; the construction of ethnic identities; the clash between tradition and modernity and gender; 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 representation of the colonial encounter; 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. 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
Argumentative essay (3000- 3500 words), due by February 1, 2016 by email
Your final essay should analyze at least one work (novel, non-fiction work, a book of poetry, or at least 3 short stories) and one issue discussed in the lectures. You will be given essay topics to choose from later in the course. The final essay is not just a summary of what was said in the lecture. It should show your own approach to a primary work and bring original observations and/or opinions. It is an argumentative essay, meaning that you are trying to argue a certain point of view which you establish at the start.
***More information about the final essay will be given later, including writing tips.***
Important details:
-The essay should be 3,000-3,500 words.
-You are free to create your own topic based on one or more of the authors discussed in the lectures but you must consult this with me.
Your final essay should analyze at least one work (novel, non-fiction work, a book of poetry, or at least 3 short stories) and one issue discussed in the lectures. You will be given essay topics to choose from later in the course. The final essay is not just a summary of what was said in the lecture. It should show your own approach to a primary work and bring original observations and/or opinions. It is an argumentative essay, meaning that you are trying to argue a certain point of view which you establish at the start.
***More information about the final essay will be given later, including writing tips.***
Important details:
-The essay should be 3,000-3,500 words.
-You are free to create your own topic based on one or more of the authors discussed in the lectures but you must consult this with me.
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
Identify, analyse and understand key political, aesthetic and philosophical issues in African literature in European languages
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:
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
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
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
SPL-13: BA M8
SPL-12: MA-07
SPL-13: BA M8
SPL-12: MA-07
Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:34