This is a draft.
AAAS 132B Introduction to African Literature
At the core of our readings and discussions this semester are novels published between the moment of independence and the present, and we will note differences in writers’ postcolonial celebration or disappointment based on generation, gender, ethnic or racial affiliation, religion and class. We will pay attention to the way that these texts represent the colonial encounter and anticolonial struggle; intimacy and sexuality. We will see how novelists have been self-conscious about the form of the novel itself, as well as the allegedly “alien” status of English and other imperial languages. We will also pay some attention to filmmakers (probably Ousmane Sembene and Claire Denis,) photographers such as Seydou Keita and Malick Sidibe, and visual artists (probably El Anatsui, Yinka Shonibare, and Ndijeka Akunyili Crosby).
This course satisfies the “non-western” requirement and it is both a “Humanities” and “Social Science” course. It is also a “Writing Intensive” course. You will learn to identify some common themes and concerns of (mostly) English-language writers from the African continent; to read critically; and to write forcefully and imaginatively about these writers and their texts, and their contribution to the continent’s continuing engagement with global affairs.
As we read this work this Fall, the news will likely be dominated by particular stories about the African continent: Boko Haram and the War on Terror; precarious migrations to Europe by sea (though these receive less attention relative to other groups); the transfer of power from one political regime to another; theories about the continent’s prospects for development; generic drugs and other aspects of public health; refugee camps. We will help each other to see how and why particular images and themes tend to be circulated about the continent, but we will also pay close attention to the ways in which novelists and other writers have framed some of these issues. Finally, African writers have reflected on
the Atlantic slave trade, as well as on their relationship to Europe and the Americas – as “Black British” or “African American” citizens.
One of your major requirements this semester will be your weekly posts (probably 8) to LATTE, due on Monday evening. You should commit to attending both sessions every week. Three or more unexcused absences will affect your grade significantly, and I will ask you to consider dropping the course.
These were the requirements the last time that this course was taught:
Assignments:
LATTE:. A thoughtful paragraph no later than the night before the assigned material is discussed in class. This gives all of us a chance to read it.
TWO ten-minute presentations at the beginning of class on that day’s reading. Submit the notes based on the presentation during that class.
TWO 3-page papers on topics to be announced (due Oct 1 and Nov 19)
Five-page paper on topic to be announced (due October 24)
Final 8-10-page paper (Dec 10; this is the only paper that cannot be revised; one-page outline due on Nov 11)
Grading:
class Participation 30%
(LATTE posts 10%; two oral presentations 10%; in-class attendance/participation/reading with you in class 10%)
two short papers 20 %
five-page paper 20%
final paper/thesis outline 30%
The following books have been ordered from the campus bookstore. Please purchase them for use in class this semester. Print editions in class, please.
Ngugi wa Thiong'o (James Ngugi) A Grain Of Wheat Penguin Classics
Chinua Achebe No Longer at Ease Anchor edition,
Mariamma Bâ So Long a Letter ( 1981 trans. of Une Si Longue Lettre) ( Waveland 2012) 978-1577668060 (though preference would be Heinemann edition)
J. M. Coetzee Disgrace Penguin 2000, please
Tsitsi Dangaremba Nervous Conditions (2004/5? Ayebia Clarke Publishing
M. G. Vassanji The In-Between World of Vikram (2005 Vintage)
Chimamanda Adichie Purple Hibiscus Algonquin Books 2012
Noviolet Bulawayo We Need New Names (Back Bay 2014)