Course: Postcolonial Literature in English a.y. 2024-25

Topic outline

General

Lecturers: Flaminia Nicora; Stefano Rozzoni
Course code: 13239
- Lecturer's Board Forum
- Dear Students,
  The 9 CFU course "POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURE IN ENGLISH" (code 13281) consists of two parts, taught by Prof. Flaminia Nicora (3 CFU) and Dr. Stefano Rozzoni (6 CFU), respectively.
  ***
  Dr. Rozzoni’s section will begin on November 12. Classes will be held on:
  Tuesdays: 12:00 - 3:00 pm
  Thursdays: 4:00 - 7:00 pm
  ***
  During the first session, I will provide you with all the necessary information regarding the organization of the course, materials, exam, etc.
  Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me: stefano.rozzoni@unibg.it
- Feel free to use the Forum as a space for open discussion among course participants, where you can share materials, reflections, and opinions. Click on the link below, create a topic, or contribute by responding to conversations started by your peers.
- Forum - Collaborative space for students
- Module B (6 CF) - Lecturer: Stefano Rozzoni
  (Dis-)Orientation in Contemporary Anglophone Literature through Postcolonial Studies
- (Please refer to the following list for the exam requirements of the course Postcolonial Literature in English, MODULE B only. For information regarding MODULE A, please follow the guidelines provided by Prof. Nicora. The exam will include material from BOTH Module A - (Nicora) and Module B (Rozzoni)
  
  Primary Texts
  - Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own (1929) (selected passages as indicated below)
  - Kabe Wilson, Of One Woman or So, by Olivia N’Gowfri (2009-2014) (selected passages as indicated below)
  - Amitav Ghosh, The Nutmeg’s Curse (2021) (Full text)
  - Vanessa Kisuule, Hollow (2020) (selected passages as indicated below)
  - Chris Cleave, The Other Hand (2016) (Full text)
  
  Secondary Texts:
  - Spivak, G. C. Can the Subaltern Speak?, 1988 (selected passages as indicated below)
  - Homi Bhabha, K. The Location of Culture, London: Routledge 1994 (selected chapters as indicated below)
  - Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press, 1968 [1961] (selected passages)
  - Paul Poplawski, English Literature in Context, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017 (selected chapters as indicated below)
  
  Recommended Reading (not mandatory, but highly recommended, especially for non-attending students):
  - Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, Helen Tiffin; Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts (2nd Edition), Taylor & Francis, 2013, especially in relation to the concepts: Binarism; Feminism and Post-colonialism; Orientalism; Other; Othering; Postcolonial-reading; Subaltern; Subject/Subjectivity; Hybridity; Liminality; Ecological imperialism; Postcolonialism; Decolonization.
  - Vera Nünning, Ansgar Nünning; An Introduction to the Study of English and American Literature, Klett 2014, especially in relation to the concepts: period; author vs. speaker; reader vs. addressee
Lesson #1 - November 12
- Reading assignment:
  From Paul Poplawski, English Literature in Context, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2017)
  - 645-655 (Postcolonial Literature in English, Historical overview)
- Lesson 1_Excerpts File
- Newspaper Articles File
Lesson #2 - November 14
- Reading assignment:
  Primary Texts
  - Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's "Can the Subaltern Speak?" (1988) - online (especially pp. 76-86)
  
  Secondary Texts
  From Paul Poplawski, English Literature in Context, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2017)
  - pp. 479 - 496 (The Twentieth Century, 1901-1939; Historical context)
  - pp. 512-519 (The position of Women)
- Chronology_The Victorian Age (Poplawski 365-368) File
- Chronology_The Twentieth Century File
Lesson #3 - November 19
- Reading Assignment:
  Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" (1929) - online (especially pp. 4-21; 34-48;)
- Virginia Woolf - Essential Biography (University of Alabama in Huntsville) URL
- Optional readings (connected to the talk of our guest speaker: Dr. Maria Jordet)
- Jordet, M., Gullestad, S. E., & Haavind, H. (2022). When singing strengthens the capacity to aspire: girls’ reflexivity in rural Bangladesh. Journal of Critical Realism, 22(1), 7–26. URL
Lesson #4 - November 21
- Assigned reading (listening):
  Kabe Wilson, Interview on Of One Woman Or So by Olivia N'Gowfri
- 'Of One Woman or So' interview URL
- 'Olivia N'Gowfri - Of One Woman Or So' (Stuart Hall Library Research Network Symposium) URL
- Kabe Wilson_Excerpts from "Of One Woman or So".pdf File
- Optional extra readings:
  Kalen M. A. Churcher, STOKELY CARMICHAEL, "BLACK POWER", Voices of Democracy 4 (2009): 132‐148 (Accessible: https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/churcher-carmichael.pdf)
  Wilson, K., Friedman, S. S., Marie, C., Latham, M., & Rigeade, A.-L. (2022). "Of Words, Worlds and Woolf: Recycling A Room of One’s Own into Of One Woman or So. In Recycling Virginia Woolf" in Contemporary Art and Literature (1st ed., pp. 55–85). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003144649-3
  Jones, Danell, The Girl Prince: Virginia Woolf, Race and the Dreadnought Hoax, Hurst, 2023.
Lesson #5 - November 26
- Assigned reading:
  - Homi Bhabha, K. The Location of Culture, London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 1-18 (Introduction). You can find a free access copy HERE. (Optional additional reading: Chapter 3, pp. 66-84)
  Amitav Ghosh, The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis, 2021 (full text)
Lesson #6 - November 28
- Assigned reading:
  - Amitav Ghosh, The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis, 2021 (full text)
- Assignment: Hybridity in A. Ghosh's first chapters (GoogleDoc) URL
- Assignment - by L. Chies File
- Recording: A conversation with Dr. Sayan Dey (Byron College, Oman). Topic: decoloniality URL
- Access code to Zoom Recording: 71?M@eH2
- "The Saffronization of Public Knowledge in India" by Sayan Dey File
Lesson #7 - December 3
- Reading assignment:
  - Make sure that you have read A. Ghosh's The Nutmeg's Curse (full text)
- A. Ghosh's "The Nutmeg's Curse" - Chapter 1 File
- Assignment_Submission: Hybridity as a narrative technique in A. Ghosh "The Nutmeg's Curse"
  
  Opened: Friday, 29 November 2024, 12:00 AM
  
  Due: Tuesday, 3 December 2024, 11:59 AM
Lesson #8 - December 5 (16:00 - 18:00)
- Assigned reading:
  - Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press, 1968 [1961] (Accessible HERE): Selected passages: pp. 35-41.
  - Paul Poplawski, 655-665 (The Scramble for Africa)
  Recommended reading (NOT mandatory for the exam):
  - Preface by Jean-Paul Sartre (Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth).
  - The Uncanny by Sigmund Freud (1919) (Accessible HERE)
- Assignment_Hybridity in a Chapter of your choice from A. Ghosh's "The Nutmeg's Curse" URL
- Vanessa Kisuule, Hollow (2020) File
- Bibliography (Edward Colston's Cultural Heritage) File
- Documentary: "The Felling of Colston" by Arthur Cauty URL
- Recommended (not mandatory)
- Documentary - "The Colston Four" by Arthur Cauty URL
Lesson #9 - December 10
- Assigned reading:
  
  - Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press, 1968 [1961] (Accessible HERE): Selected passages: "Colonial War and Mental Disorder" + "Series A": pp. 249-269.
  
  - Chris Cleave, The Other Hand, London: Sceptre, 2008 (FULL TEXT)
Lesson #10 - December 12 (16:00 - 18:00)
- Assigned reading:
  
  Chris Cleave, The Other Hand, London: Sceptre, 2008 (Selected chapters)
Lesson #11 - December 17
From: 12:00 to 1:30 with Stefano Rozzoni (Chris Cleave's "The Other Hand")
From: 1:30 to 3:00 with Flaminia Nicora and Stefano Rozzoni (Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart")
- Assigned reading:
  
  Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
Lesson #12 - December 19
From: 4:00 to 6:00 with Flaminia Nicora and Stefano Rozzoni (Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart")
- Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart