Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 102434

Coordinator Ben Etherington Opens in new window

Description Postcolonial Literatures introduces the writing that emerged in the wake of decolonisation in the second half of the twentieth century. Students will read literary works from across the postcolonial world, including from the Middle East, South and South-East Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and Australia, and will consider how writers contended with the legacies of European imperialism and the historical crises that came in its wake. Postcolonial writing imaginatively engages with processes of partition, neo-colonialism, separatism, persistent dependency, and the large-scale movements of people to the first world, whether as migrants or refugees. The subject also considers decolonial and postcolonial literary theory, which have profoundly influenced thinking across the humanities and in public life.

School Humanities & Comm Arts

Discipline Literature

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 1 10cp

Check your fees via the Fees page.

Level Undergraduate Level 3 subject

Restrictions

Successful completion of 60 credit points of study in currently enrolled program.

Assumed Knowledge

A basic knowledge of major literary genres, techniques, and styles (as acquired in core subjects for the English major) is desirable as the subject focuses on these aspects of literary writing.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

1. critically read a range of key postcolonial literary and theoretical works;
2. compare literary writing from different regions and perceive broader trends and divergences between them;
3. critically read and contrast different modes of literary writing;
4. identify theoretical and historical problems peculiar to the field of postcolonial literature, and deploy critical approaches best suited to addressing those problems;
5. articulate sustained critical arguments, whether in essays or tutorial discussions, focused by a reflective understanding of the relationship between literature, history and politics;
6. identify and understand the impact of postcolonialism on the contemporary world

Subject Content

Postcolonialism was a vital cultural moment and movement that catalysed fundamental shifts in global literary cultures as well as thinking across the humanities and public discourse. Students will encounter literary works and ideas that have shaped the world around them, and will be able to bring these ideas to bear on their studies in other areas. The subject encompasses:

1. Postcolonial partition and separatism, and their impact on literary practice;
2. Neo-colonialism and neo-imperialism, and their impact on literary practice;
3. Postcolonial displacement, migration, exile and their impact on literary practice;
4. The work of major postcolonial theorists;
5. The question of representation and power;
6. Postcolonial feminism;
7. Ideas of imperialism and their implications for literary interpretation;
8. Ideas of diaspora, exile and refuge and their implications for literary interpretation;
9. Postcolonial writers and works, including from South and South-East Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Australia.