Comparative Literature 205 - TWENTIETH CENT LIT OF AFRICA

A study of the major writers and diverse literary traditions of modern Africa with emphasis on the historical, political and cultural contexts of the emergence of writing, reception and consumption. We pay particular attention to several questions: in what contexts did modern African literature emerge? Is the term “African literature” a useful category? How do African writers challenge Western representations of Africa? How do they articulate the crisis of independence and postcoloniality? How do women writers reshape our understanding of gender and the politics of resistance? Writers include Chinua Achebe, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nadine Gordimer, Njabulo Ndebele and Ama Ata Aidoo. We also watch and critique films such as Blood Diamond, District 9, Tsotsi and The Constant Gardener.