Universität Wien
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240095 SE Elective Subjects in Master's Programme Gender Studies (2022W)

Wahllehrveranstaltung Individuelle Schwerpunktsetzung (pi; 8 ECTS)

8.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Continuous assessment of course work
ON-SITE
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

Language: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Monday 10.10. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal 29 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 24.10. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal 29 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 07.11. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal 29 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 21.11. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal 29 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 05.12. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal 29 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 16.01. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal 29 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Monday 30.01. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal 29 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

In the last two decades, contemporary African diaspora feminist authors like Chimamanda Adichie, Taiye Selasi, Chika Unigwe, Sefi Atta, NoViolet Bulawayo, among others have gone beyond what Susan Arndt has called ‘radical feminist authors’ in her work on African feminism in society and literature. Arndt’s definition built on how African women writers through their texts, argues “that men (as a social group) inevitably and in principle discriminate against and mistreat women.” (Arndt 2002, 34). But, Gloria Ada Fwangyil, calls these contemporary African diaspora feminist authors reformist feminists who “negotiate with the patriarchal society to gain a new scope for women and end their oppression (Fwangyil, Gloria Ada. 2011: 264). Have these above-mentioned contemporary feminist authors been able to successfully build upon the foundation laid by their predecessors who had to navigate their patriarchal postcolonial societies? How have the conceptions of gender relations changed in African diaspora feminist writing? This course will seek to interrogate these diverse conceptualizations of African and African diaspora feminisms.

Method:
1. Students are expected to read a selection of articles and
materials that are made available for the class on the Moodle
platform prior to the start of the course and bring questions of
their choice for the peer discussion.
2. In the middle of the semester, a seminar paper must be
presented. The students can also use the texts and the works
of fiction that were already discussed in class.
3. Participation in discussions about the specified reading
material in the seminar can cause the performance
assessment of the student's examination paper to move up or
down the grading scale by one level.
4. Absence from the class, in which participation in the
discussions is obligatory, must be communicated at the latest
before the beginning of the unit; otherwise the final grade will
be lowered.

Aims:
1. This course will highlight the history and evolution of African
feminist literature in Africa.
2. This course will analyze the development of African feminist
theories.
3. This course seeks to interrogate the growth of contemporary
African diaspora feminist writings. Focus will be on how the
pioneer feminist writers emerged out of the shadows of their
male counterparts.
4. In this course, comparisons will be drawn between works of
pioneer African feminist authors and cotemporary feminist
authors. Focus will be on how these pioneer feminist authors
changed the dialogue surrounding African literature to include
their own writings; how the contemporary feminist authors
globalized African diaspora feminist writings.
5. This course will explore radical, assertive, reformist strands in
the works of the contemporary authors in their diaspora
locations.

What the students will learn:
1. At the end of this course, the students would have a basic
knowledge of the history of African feminist studies.
2. Students will learn how to identify the underlying socio-cultural
factors that separate texts written by African feminist authors
in Africa from those written by African diaspora authors.
3. The students will learn to apply their experiences in this
course to their approach to African feminist studies.

Assessment and permitted materials

Participation in the discussion
Presentation of a paper during the semester (15 pages).
Writing a term paper (20 pages, Times New Roman, 1.5 lines, 12 pt.) by February 28, 2023.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Very good English reading and comprehension are expected. Poor language skills do not preclude successful participation in the seminar, but considerably limit the possibilities of scientifically dealing with Anglophone literature.

Presence in the SE ( one absence tolerated).
.

Examination topics

Examination material is the content of the course, script and secondary literature.

Reading list

Primary texts:
1. Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi (2013), Americanah. New York:
Alfred Knopf.
2. Aidoo Ama Ata. (1997). Our Sister Killjoy. London: Longman
Publishing Group.
3. Bulawayo, NoViolet (2014), We Need New Names. New York:
Back Bay Books.
4. Unigwe, Chika, (2019). Better Never Than Late. London:
Cassava Republic.

Secondary Texts:
1. Aidoo, Ama Ata. (1995). “Literature, feminism and the African
woman today.” Jarrett-Macauley, Delia. (ed.). Reconstructing
womanhood, reconstructing feminism. London: Routledge, pp.
173-192.
2. Akingbe, Niyi, & Ogunyemi, Christopher Babatunde. (2017).
“Countering Masculinity: Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and
the Rise of Feminist Assertiveness in the Novels of Nigerian
Female Writers.” Studia Universitatis Petru Maior-Philologia, 22,
81-93.
3. Amouzou, Akoété. (2006). “Reconceptualizing gender in
Nigerian Literature: The Dynamics of Womanist Ideology in
Flora Nwapa's Fiction.” Revue du CAMES-Nouvelle Série B, 7(1),
P. 26.
4. Andrade, Susan. Z. (2011). The Nation Writ Small: African
Fictions and Feminisms, 1958–1988. Durham: Duke University
Press.
5. Arndt, Susan. (2005). “Boundless whiteness? feminism and
white women in the mirror of African feminist writing.” Matatu,
(29/30), 157.
6. Arndt, Susan. (2002). “Perspectives on African feminism:
defining and classifying African-feminist literatures.” Agenda,
17(54), 31-44.
7. Boyce-Davies, Carol. (2002). Black women, writing and
identity: Migrations of the subject. London: Routledge.
8. Fwangyil, Gloria Ada. (2011). “A reformist-feminist approach to
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple hibiscus.” African
Research Review, 5(3).
9. Gqola, Pumla Dineo. (2001). “Ufanele uqavile: Blackwomen,
feminisms and postcoloniality in Africa.” Agenda, 16(50), 11-
22.
10. Jarrett-Macauley, Delia. (ed.) (1995). Reconstructing
womanhood, reconstructing feminism. London: Routledge.
11. Nfah-Abbenyi, Juliana Makuchi. (1997). Gender in African
women's writing: Identity, sexuality, and difference. Indiana:
Indiana University Press.
12. Stratton, Florence. (2020). Contemporary African literature
and the politics of gender. London: Routledge.
13. Taiwo, Oladele. (1984). Female novelists of modern Africa.
London: Macmillan Publishers.
14. Umeh, Marie A. (ed.). (1998). Emerging Perspectives on Flora
Nwapa: Critical and Theoretical Essays. Trenton, New Jersey:
Africa World Press.

Association in the course directory

Afrikanistik

Last modified: Tu 27.09.2022 11:10