READING POSTCOLONIAL TEXTS
SPRING/SUMMER 2006
Tutor: Denise deCaires Narain safb4@sussex.ac.uk; tel (87)7112;
Room: A117; Office Hours: Mon: 10.00-11.00 & Wed: 12.30-1.30 (appointments may be possible at other times and can be arranged by e-mail)
Lectures will take place on Thursdays from 2.00-4.00 in C133 (starting in Week 1 with a ‘Research & Writing Week’ in Week 8 on 2nd March)
Course aims: to provide you with an introduction to postcolonial studies and, in particular, to some of the ways in which the legacy of colonialism has affected writing and other forms of culture. By the end of the course, you should be familiar with some of the key issues raised in postcolonial discourse and be able to summarize some of the key critical concepts involved in the field. You should also have an understanding of the significance of postcolonial discourse as a way of thinking about cultural production and be able to apply this understanding to the interpretation of some of the texts discussed on the course. (Course code:Q3072; Credits: 18; 6%)
Method of Teaching:
one two-hour lecture slot once a week in the Spring Term and in the first half of the Summer term; this slot will include group work and student presentations. Lectures start in week 1.
Mode of Assessment:
Group Presentation: 10% (to be arranged in first session)
Learning Log: 30% (due in: Week 10 of Spring Term)
Essay (2,000 words): 60% (due in: Week 5)
Reading List:
Primary Texts
You will be expected to read the following primary texts:
Annie John, Jamaica Kincaid
Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys
A Grain of Wheat, Ngugi wa Thiong’o
House of Hunger (title story only), Dambudzo Marachera
Miguel Street, V.S.Naipaul
Potiki, Patricia Grace
Cracking India, Bapsi Sidhwa
Foe, J.M. Coetzee
The Lonely Londoners, Samuel Selvon
By the Sea, Abdulrazak Gurnah
The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
Secondary Reading:
The lectures will refer to a wide range of critical material and will...