AJ18101 Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures in English

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2014
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Dr. Dobrota Pucherová, D. Phil. (lecturer), Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
each even Thursday 15:50–17:25 M24
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ09999 Qualifying Examination || AJ01002 Practical English II
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
Postcolonial theory, which developed in the 1980s, is today one of the most productive analytical tools for the study of culture. Rather than being an abstract philosophy, it is a dynamic discourse that emerges from concrete re-readings of the postcolonial culture and especially literature. Through a close reading of literary texts, the course will study postcolonial discourse in literature as a response to Eurocentrism (and any totalization of power, knowledge and meaning) and as a way of redefining the postcolonial self and the world. The reading selection covers some of the most representative English-language postcolonial authors from Africa, the Caribbean and Britain, focusing on short fiction. Literary texts will be used as the basis for the formulation of key terms and positions of postcolonial theory and as a starting point for the discussion of postcoloniality. The primary texts will be complemented by secondary readings. Students will be expected to read the assigned texts, contribute to seminar discussions, write four two-page response papers and a final essay, incorporating key theoretical concepts and critical analyses into their work. At the end of the course, students should be able to identify, analyse and understand the key philosophical, historical, political and aesthetic issues of postcolonial literature and apply this knowledge to the analysis of a variety of literary texts.
Syllabus
  • Week 2 Introduction: colonialism, anti-colonialism, post-colonialism (Oct. 2) John Ruskin, Conclusion to the Inaugural Lecture (1870) Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden” (1899) Mrs. Ernest Ames, An ABC for Baby Patriots (1898) Rider Haggard, King Solomon’s Mines (1885) Week 4 Reading anti-colonial discourses (Oct. 16) Doris Lessing, “The Old Chief Mshlanga” (1951) Peter Abrahams, Tell Freedom (1954), pp. 26-35. Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (1963), pp. 1-8. First response paper due Week 6 Theorizing race and the self (Oct. 30) Frantz Fanon, “The Fact of Blackness”, from Black Skin, White Masks (1952) Anthony Trollope, Aboriginals (1873) - excerpt Dambudzo Marechera, “Black Skin What Mask” (1978) Justin Edwards, Postcolonial Literature (Palgrave, 2008), Chapter 2 – “Difference” Second response paper due Week 8 Re-writing cultural identity (Nov. 13) Camara Laye, The Dark Child (1954) – excerpt Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (1958) – excerpt Chinua Achebe, “The Novelist as a Teacher” (1965) C.L. Innes, The Cambridge Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures in English (2007) – Chapter 3: “Alternative Histories and Writing Back” Third response paper due Week 10 Re-writing whiteness, re-writing blackness (Nov. 27) Daniel Bristow-Bovey, “The First Time I Said Fuck” (2008) Alexandra Fuller, “Fancy Dress” (2003) Sello Duiker, Thirteen Cents (2000) – pp. 1-10. Justin Edwards, Postcolonial Literature (Palgrave, 2008), Chapter 13 – “Hybridity” Fourth response paper due Week 12 Re-writing the world: postcolonialism and globalization (Dec. 11) Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place (1988) E.C. Osondu, “Waiting” (2009) Parselelo Kantai, “You Wreck Her” (2009) Justin Edwards, Postcolonial Literature (Palgrave, 2008), Chapter 15 – “Globalization” Course evaluation and conclusion
Literature
  • Ashcroft, Bill et al. Postcolonial Studies: The Key Concepts. London: Routledge, 2000.
  • McLeod, John. Beginning Postcolonialism. Manchester University Press, 2000.
  • Robert Young, Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2003.
  • Ashcroft, Bill et. al., The Empire Writes Back. Routledge, 1989, 2002.
Teaching methods
Seminar. No absence allowed.
Assessment methods
Participation and homework (40%), argumentative essay, 10-12 pages (60%). No absence allowed.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2011, Autumn 2015.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2014, recent)
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