FPFVA030 Introduction to African Writing in English

Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Winter 2021
Extent and Intensity
0/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Radek Glabazňa, Ph.D., MA (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Radek Glabazňa, Ph.D., MA
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
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
The course is also listed under the following terms Summer 2017, Summer 2018, Summer 2019, Winter 2019, Summer 2020, Winter 2020, Summer 2021, Summer 2022, Winter 2022, Summer 2023, Winter 2023, Summer 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2021, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fpf/winter2021/FPFVA030