AJ28071 African Narrative: Fiction and Film

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2001
Extent and Intensity
0/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Martina Drnková (lecturer), Ing. Mgr. Jiří Rambousek, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
Ing. Mgr. Jiří Rambousek, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Michaela Hrazdílková
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The proposed course seeks to acquaint Czech students with the history language , society and culture of a selection of African countries. Sensitive to the way in which 'Africa' tends to be homogenised in the European imagination, it seeks to alert students to variety , complexity and difference.
The course does not aim to offer a survey of African literary and cultural production. Instead, it selects examples from Francophone and Anglophone literary and cultural traditions in Africa, and frames these in terms of three key moments in the history of African countries, namely the pre-colonial period, the colonial phase and the post-independence period. These broad areas are approached as problems and points of departure rather than fixed categories: a key concern will be to investigate whether such theoretical/historical categories are in fact a fruitful way of approaching such material in the first place.
The course seeks to understand the texts in relation to the precise social , historical and political contexts in which they emerged . However, the aim is also to be sensitive to the way these texts have been re-imagined and 'translated' for new audiences and in different historical contexts. Of equal importance will be to bring the concerns and preoccupations of previous historical periods into the present as a way of engaging with contemporary concerns and issues.
Syllabus
  • Course Outline
  • seminar 1 : Theory/ Introduction to Imperialism. Ce'saire, Memmi, Fanon, Freud ( extracts)
  • seminar 2 : Pre-colonial forms: Bushmen songs + stories; Zulu Izibongo.
  • seminar 3: Colonialism: Mongo Beti, Mission to Kala ( a short novel).
  • seminar 4: God's Bits of Wood ( a novel)
  • seminar 5: Bessie Head, Maru ( a short novel)
  • seminar 6: Tsitsi Dangarremgba, Nervous Conditions ( a novel)
  • seminar 7: Post-Independence: Xala ( film)
  • seminar 8: Mapantsula ( film)
Assessment methods (in Czech)
Seminar; Form of assesment - essay, participation
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught only once.
The course is taught: in blocks.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: Intensive Course.
Credit evaluation note: 2 původní kredity.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2001/AJ28071