This course introduces some of the key themes of postcolonial literature and theory, through the study of texts from across the globe.  It engages with a range of cultural, political and literary issues such as anti-colonialism and nationalism; the power of naming; language, translation and code switching; magic realism; diaspora and cultural hybridity; rereading the history and literature of the colonizer; postcolonialism and feminism.  We will also undertake close readings of the work of authors writing from very different colonial/postcolonial situations across the globe: including Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, the Caribbean (Guyana), Ireland and Wales.

Course Outline

1. Introduction – What is postcolonial writing?  What is postcolonial theory?  An overview of key themes to be explored in the course.

2 & 3. Anti-colonialism and nation-building: Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart [Nigeria]

4. Naming and colonization: Translations, Brian Friel [Ireland]

5 & 6. Language, translation, code switching: Shifts, Christopher Meredith [Wales] (Refer back to Things Fall Apart and Translations.)

7. Magic Realism: Selected short stories from Shape-Shifter, by Pauline Melville [Caribbean]

8 & 9. Diaspora and Cultural Hybridity: Sugar and Slate, Charlotte Williams [Wales (& Guyana)] (Refer back to Pauline Melville)

10 & 11. Postcolonialism, Gender and Feminism: Nervous Conditions, Dangarembga [Zimbabwe]

Main Recommended Texts

Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (insert edition) [first published 1958]
Brian Friel, Translations (Faber, 1981) [first performed 1980]
Christopher Meredith, Shifts (Seren, 1997) [first published 1988]
Pauline Melville, Shape-shifter (Bloomsbury, 2000) [first published 1990]
Charlotte Williams, Sugar and Slate (Planet, 2002)
Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions, (Ayebia Clarke Publishing, 2004) [first published 1988]