Course for international guest/part time students
- Faculty
- Faculty of Humanities
- Organization
- BTK Department of English Studies
- Code
- BBI-ANG17-218E/G2
- Title
- Reading Literary Texts 1.: African Childhood on Page
- Usual semester
- Spring
- ECTS
- 3
- Language
- Learning outcomes
- During the course, students will read and discuss works by African authors, all of which focus on the theme of childhood in different ways. The coming-of-age stories analyzed in class offer a glimpse into the multifaceted portrayals of childhood in Africa and the African diaspora as well as the main stakes of postcolonial interpretation.
- Course content
- Selected works of contemporary South African, Nigerian and Zimbabwean fiction as specified by the instructor (see: list of compulsory readings) as well as critical works accompanying the novels. During the course we will also spend time contextualizing the cultural background of the works, including social issues arising as a result of independence struggles. The disparate ways in which authors narrate childhood experiences will also be discussed.
- Assessment method
- Exam mark offered in advance on the basis of in-class activity, a presentation or a shorter mid-term assignment and a home paper of cca. 5-6 pages.
- Bibliography
- Achebe, Chinua (2009). The Education of a British-Protected Child. (selected chapters) Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi (2003). “Tomorrow is Too Far”. (in the short story collection The Thing Around Your Neck) Bulawayo, NoViolet (2013). We Need New Names. Dangarembga, Tsitsi (1988). Nervous Conditions. Iweala, Uzodinma (2005). Beasts of No Nation. Noah, Trevor (2016). Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood. (selected chapters)