FPF:FPFVA035 Introduction to African Writin - Course Information

FPFVA035 Introduction to African Writing in English

Extent and Intensity

0/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).

Teacher(s)

RNDr. Miroslav Langer, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)

Guaranteed by

RNDr. Miroslav Langer, Ph.D.
Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

• English in combination with another discipline (programme FPF, N7310 Filo)
• English (programme FPF, N7310 Filo) (2)
• Archaeology (programme FPF, N7109 Arch)
• Audio-visual Creation (programme FPF, N8203 DrUm)
• History (programme FPF, N7105 HiVe)
• History - Museology (programme FPF, N7105 HiVe)
• Information and Library Studies (programme FPF, N7201 InSK) (2)
• Computer Science and Technology (programme FPF, N1801 Inf)
• Library science with the focus on public libraries of the community type (programme FPF, N7201 InSK) (2)
• Cultural Inheritance in Regional Practice (programme FPF, N7106 HiSt)
• Cultural History (programme FPF, N7105 HiVe)
• German in combination with another discipline (programme FPF, N7310 Filo)
• German (programme FPF, N7310 Filo) (2)
• Protection of the Cultural Heritage (programme FPF, N7105 HiVe)
• Computational Physics (programme FPF, N1701 Fyz)
• Theoretical Physics (programme FPF, N1701 Fyz)
• Secondary School Teacher Training in German (programme FPF, N7504 UcSS)
• Teacher Training - shared framework (programme FPF, N7504 UcSS)

Course objectives

The aim of the course is to close-read and interpret path-breaking texts of those African writers who have helped define the field of African literature in English. The writers whose texts will be analyzed include Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Nadine Gordimer, and others. Each chapter outlines the life and work of a particular writer, focusing on the predominant motives and themes of their oeuvre. All texts will be discussed in the context of the writers' personal histories, always closely entwined with larger social, political and cultural structures of both colonial and post-colonial times. The course introduces writings representing various literary genres, including essays, poems, short stories, novels and plays. This approach will help the students to appreciate the complexity, variety and richness of African writing in English, as well as its evolution towards its now emancipated position within the vast filed of literature written in English.

Syllabus

• 1. Introduction: Conrad and the Colonial Representation of Africa
  2. Aimé Césaire; or Colonialism Exposed
  3. Frantz Fanon; or Blackness as a Curse
  4. Wole Soyinka; or Colonialism as Dramatic Incident
  5. Chinua Achebe; or the Image Inverted
  6. Amos Tutuola; or Interlanguage
  7. Tanure Ojaide; or Political Consciousness
  8. Buchi Emecheta; or African Motherhood
  9. Tsitsi Dangarembga; or Nervous Condition
  10. Ngugi wa Thiong'o; or the Struggle Betrayed
  11. Derek Walcott; or Poisoned Blood
  12. Nadine Gordimer; or Apartheid and its Aftermath

Literature

recommended literature
• Wisker, Gina. Key Concepts In Postcolonial Literature. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. info
• Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. The Empire Writes Back. London: Routledge, 2001. info
• Loomba, Ania. Colonialism/Postcolonialism. London: Routledge, 1998. info
• Young, Robert, J. C. Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, Culture and Race. London: Routledge, 1995. info
• Lee, Robert A., ed. Other Britain, Other British. London: Pluto, 1995. info
• Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. The Postcolonial Studies Reader. London: Routledge, 1995. info
• Said, Edward W. Culture and Imperialism. London: Ghatto and Windus, 1993. info

Language of instruction

English

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

The course can also be completed outside the examination period.

Teacher's information

- 70% attendance in classes
- active participation in discussions
- critical essay of 2-3 pages debating a chosen text

• Enrolment Statistics (Summer 2020, recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fpf/summer2020/FPFVA035