Postcolonial literature

Postcolonial literature often addresses the problems and consequences of the decolonization of a country, especially questions relating to the political and cultural independence of formerly subjugated people, and themes such as racialism and colonialism. A range of literary theory has evolved around the subject.

1. Postcolonial Literature Introduction

2. Course Description This course is based on a study of some seminal and significant postcolonial literary texts (selected poetry, drama and fiction) in order to introduce the student to the colonial project and see how the colonial experience helped shape literature as a result of military, political, social and cultural encounters between the colonizers and the colonized.

3. The postcolonial literature(s) can be roughly divided into three overlapping phases. The first type comes from the period of contact between the colonial powers and the colonized, T he second type is the response of the natives to the colonizers, and The third is contemporary literature which comes from the parts that were earlier colonized, and also from the diasporic authors.

4. This study is also useful in assessing the developments which have taken place in this field over time and relate with the material conditions of the contemporary world and, consequently, with relevant theoretical concepts as well.

5. An introduction to the key concepts and terms related to Postcolonial Studies is also part of this course.

6. Course Objectives 1. To develop an understanding of the key concepts and terms related to the postcolonial studies. 2. To study the selected literature employing the postcolonial concepts in order to analyze this literature. 3. To see how these readings relate with the contemporary realities, issues and debates of the world and to understand the importance of this field of study in the developments taking place in the world .

7. Course Contents . Poetry 1. Derek Walcott. A Far Cry from Africa (1962) 2. Louise Bennett. Selected Poems (1983) 3. Wole Soyinka. Mandela’s Earth and Other Poems (1988) 4. A.K. Ramanujan. Collected Poems ( 2011 ) (Note: Four to five poems, out of each of these collections, may be selected by the concerned teacher.)

8. Course Contents 2. Drama 1. Wole Soyinka. A Dance of the Forests (1963) 2. Derek Walcott. Dream on Monkey Mountain (1970) 3. Jack Davis. Honey Spot (1985)

9. 3. Fiction 1. Chinua Achebe. Things Fall Apart (1958), a novel. 2. Jean Rhys. Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), a novel. 3. Rohinton Mistry. Tales From Firozsha Baag (1987), a collection of short stories. 4. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o. Devil on the Cross (1982), a novel. (Note: Two short stories from this collection may be selected by the concerned teacher.)

10. Thank you