Module Information

Module Identifier
WL31520
Module Title
Post-Colonial African Literature in English
Academic Year
2025/2026
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Portfolio  Consisting of one essay and one 15 minute individual presentation. 3000 Words  100%
Supplementary Assessment Essay  4000 Words  100%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

critically review and appraise the main issues in debates about African literature;

relate the principal theories and practices of African postcolonial theory to the set texts;

exercise critical judgement on the range of literary material chosen for study;

present challenging literary texts in a critically-informed and well-structured manner

Brief description

Africa is a huge continent, embracing a vast array of cultures. Consequently, this module can only act as an introduction to the different regions and to sample the variety of writing. The module will engage African literature in the postcolonial era, focusing upon texts from male and female writers, novelists and poets, from East, West and Southern Africa. It will consider general theories of postcolonialism, and those theories that are more focused upon regions, or thematic concerns such as language, gender, imprisonment and politics. The module will cover writers from Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and South Africa, considering the immediate aftermath of independence in many countries, the “peculiar institution” of apartheid, and contemporary concerns such as immigration, AIDS and the drug culture. The module will offer opportunities for students to range beyond the set texts in their literary engagement and research.

Content

Seminar 1: Africa and (Post)Colonialism
Introduction: Africa and its (post)colonial history

Seminars 2 & 3: Theorising Colonialism: Language and National Identity
Text: Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Petals of Blood

Seminar 4: Chinua Achebe - "Man of Two Worlds"
Text: Chinua Achebe, No Longer at Ease

Seminar 5 & 6: African Women Writing
Text: Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions

Seminar 7 & 8: Black Consciousness, the Soweto Era, and Apartheid
Text: Adam Schwartzman (ed.), Ten South African Poets; Mbulelo Mzamane, (ed) Hungry Flames ( a section of short stories)

Seminar 9 & 10.Post-Apartheid Narratives?
Text: Phaswane Mpe, Welcome to Our Hillbrow

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Co-ordinating with others Communication Written and Oral: By expressing ideas in coherent ways; through class discussion, small group activities and oral presentation.
Creative Problem Solving Problem solving: By evaluative analysis and the use of critical skills.
Professional communication Communication Written: By expressing ideas in coherent ways.
Reflection Improving own Learning and Performance: Through independent and directed research and reading. By engaging with assessment feedback in order to raise attainment.
Subject Specific Skills Research skills: By directed and independent research and the synthesizing of information in critically-evaluative ways.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6