ENGL 316 B: Postcolonial Literature And Culture

Once part of the global British Empire and now officially independent, countries like Kenya, India, Pakistan, Jamaica, Barbados, and Zimbabwe have performed and negotiated their break from colonialism in sometimes different, sometimes similar ways. Our investigation of postcolonial literatures and theory will help us better understand:

--historical colonial power and anticolonial conflict
--present day cultural legacies of imperialism in the recently independent postcolony
--who has power and privilege over others and why
--the role of travel, diaspora and globalization.

We will read literature from Zimbabwe to glean insight on that country’s cultural and literary scene, and to discuss how emblematic Zimbabwean literature might be to larger postcolonial concerns. Additionally, we will screen films, dabble in theory, and try to piece together how our world works now and how that came to be. This class will engage with issues of gender, sexuality, race, feminism, patriarchy, globalization, westernization, class, privilege, power and representation.

This is an introductory class, with no prerequisites or expectations of prior familiarity with Africa, postcolonialism or African issues. Our one requirement: an openness and willingness to engage in productive and collegial conversations. Join us!