ENGL 44902 - Post Colonial Literature

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

ENG 30530 Post-Colonial Literature at UCD; Postcolonial literature has been one of the most significant and vibrant areas of literary production through the 20th century and into the contemporary period. In this course, we will explore such literatures in English from formerly colonised countries. Reading these texts, we will concentrate on certain key issues in relation to postcolonial culture, identity and language. How do literary textswrite the experiences of colonisation, anti-colonial struggle and the `postcolonial condition'? How do postcolonial writings engage with, utilise, or challenge the literary `canon' of the former colonial centre and re-inscribe or subvert colonial tropes such as 'paradise' and 'blank darkness'? How are the unequal relations between the `first' and `third world' and the continuing exploitation of sub-altern communities and environments represented in postcolonial literature? Can literature have a political agency? How do concepts of the anti-colonial ethnic nation and the reality of cultural hybridization under colonisation impact on the specifically linguistic and literary aspects of language, form and genre, as well as on collective cultural identity itself? How are the complex interrelations between gender, sexuality, race, class, ethnicity and power inscribed in the postcolonial text? These are some of the vital and fascinating lines of enquiry that we will engage in our readings of these crucially important writings.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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