In other worlds: postcolonial literature
Proposed to be offered next in 1998
M Ackland
8 points
* 2 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton
Objectives Upon completion of this subject students should have gained an understanding of major modern theoretical approaches; the role of gender and colonial consciousness in literature; and various applications of theory to contemporary writing.
Synopsis 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 second year 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.
Assessment third year 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
* Third-year students are expected to read more widely in
critical theory, and to apply it extensively in their written work.
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
Kincaid J Lucy New American Library
Llosa M The storyteller Faber
Marquez G One hundred years of solitude Picador
Pynchon T The crying of lot 49 Picador
Rhys J Wide Sargasso Sea Penguin
Shakespeare The Tempest Penguin
Recommended texts
Ashcroft B The empire writes back Allen and Unwin
Said E Culture and imperialism Vintage
Williams P and Chrisman L Colonial discourse and post-colonial theory: A reader Harvester/Wheatsheaf
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