Unit name | Decolonising Literature and Literary Studies |
---|---|
Unit code | ENGL30111 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. Kirk Sides |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of English |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will examine the ways in which literary writing has intervened in - and been appropriated by - contesting forms of national(ist) discourse in a global context and the impact this has had on the study of English literature as a discipline. It examines the role of literature in decolonization by focusing specifically on the aesthetic function of literary writing and how artistic forms contribute to, develop from and contest socio-political discourses over the long twentieth century. Students will consider what it means to ‘decolonise’ literary studies through an examination of theories of global and/or world literature, transnationalism, whiteness, Englishness and Britishness. In so doing, the unit de-centres received notions of English Literature and encourages students to consider the alternative narratives which have shaped literary history, as well as to engage in a comprehensive reflection of what it means to study English at university.
On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:
Teaching will involve asynchronous and synchronous elements, including long- and short-form lectures, group discussion, research and writing activities, and peer dialogue. Students are expected to engage with the reading and participate fully with the weekly tasks and topics. Learning will be further supported through the opportunity for individual consultation.
Amos Tutuola, The Palm Wine Drinkard (1952)
U.R. Anantha Murthy, Samskara: A Rite of a Dead Man (1965; English translation 1976)
Jamaica Kincaid, My Brother (1997)
Franco Moretti, ‘Conjectures on World Literature’ New Left Review (2000)
Warwick Research Collective, Combined and Uneven Development: Towards a New Theory of World-Literature (Liverpool University Press, 2015)