World Literatures 266 - Studies in South African Literature and Film: Modern South African Literature and Cinema

Topics course: A study of South African literature and film with a focus on adaptation of literary texts to the screen. We pay particular attention to the ways in which the political, economic, and cultural forces of colonialism and apartheid have shaped contemporary South African literature and film: for what purposes do South African filmmakers adapt novels, biographies and memoirs to the screen? How do these adaptations help us visualize the relationship between power and violence in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa? How do race, class, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity complicate our understanding racial, political and gender-based violence in South Africa?