Postcolonial literature and theory
M Ackland
8 points * 2 hours per week * Second semester * Clayton
This subject is intended to introduce students to postcolonialism as a historical phenomenon and as a dynamic field of contemporary writing and theory. The set texts deal with the Americas, Africa and the Carribean, and Australia and the Pacific region. They promote discussion of processes of inscription, cultural interaction and strategies for dominion, and of how racial and gender stereotypes can be effectively challenged. Recent attempts to protect indigenous or minority groups and the influence of successive waves of imperialism and of aspirations towards self-determination will also be examined, The intersection of postmodernist and postcolonial dilemmas will be a further topic for discussion.
Assessment
Tutorial paper and participation (1000 words): 20% * Essay (1500 words): 30% * Essay (3000 words): 50% * Students whose written work and participation are satisfactory will be excused an examination
Prescribed texts
Achebe C Things fall apart Heinemann
Ackland M The Penguin book of nineteenth century Australian literature Penguin
Astley T Beachmasters Penguin
Coetzee J Foe Penguin
De Groen A The rivers of China Currency
Kincaid J Lucy New American Library
Llosa M The storyteller Faber
Marquez G One hundred years of solitude Picador
Naipaul V A bend in the river Penguin
Pynchon T The crying of lot 49 Picador
Rhys J Wide Sargasso Sea Penguin
Recommended reading
Ashcroft B The empire writes back Allen and Unwin
Kiernan V The lords of human kind Penguin
Lichtheim G Imperialism Penguin
Said E Culture and imperialism Vintage
Williams P and Chrisman L Colonial discourse and post-colonial theory: A reader Harvester/Wheatsheaf