106-215 Imag (In) Ing Africa

Note

Available as 106-315 at 3rd-year level.

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Subject Description

This subject is an introduction to literary narratives from and about Africa in relation both to their own historical, political, and literary background and to their equivalents within European culture. Students who complete this subject should: be familiar with representative literary narratives both from and about Africa; begin to understand the literature of Africa in the context of colonial and post-colonial African history; learn how the colonised are viewed by their colonisers and how a therefore 'marginalised' culture subsequently theorises both its own tradition and its relation to the dominant colonial culture; see how literature engages politics, how politics contextualises literature, and how narrative form carries political content.

Assessment

Written work of not more than 5000 words.

Prescribed Texts

Course reader available from the department.

• C Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah.
• J M Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians.
• J Conrad, Heart of Darkness.
• M Dlamini, Hell-Hole Robben Island.
• H Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines.
• B Head, Maru.
• A La Guma, Time of the Butcherbird.
• B Kojo Laing, Search Sweet Country.
• V S Naipaul, Bend in the River.
• N Ndebele, Fools and Other Stories.
• Thion'o Ngugi wa, Petals of Blood.
• W Soyinka, Aké: The Years of Childhood.
• N Farrah, Sweet and Sour Milk.
• N Gordimer, July's People.