Studies in Postcolonial Literature (365-0-20)
Topic
Postcolonial Sexualities
Instructors
Evan M Mwangi
Meeting Info
University Hall 418: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
This course responds to shifts in paradigms of gender and sexuality in writing from the global south. Should we use western terms (e.g., "gay" and "lesbian") to describe sexual practices in the global south? What are the main theoretical issues in postcolonial studies, and how would the positions change if we factored in gender and sexuality? How are sex relations used as an allegory of the national condition? How does sexuality intersect with other postcolonial concerns (e.g., environmental crises). What are the attitudes toward inter-species sex among postcolonial writers? How best do we integrate activist positions in postcolonial concerns? Authors to be discussed include Jessica Hagedorn, Witi Ihimaera, H. Nigel Thomas, Nawal el Saadawi, Chris Abani, K. Sello Duiker, Suniti Namjoshi, and Lawrence Scott. We will consider postcolonial theoretical statements by a wide range of thinkers (e.g., Keguro Macharia, Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, Gayatri Spivak, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Gayatri Gopinath, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Chinua Achebe etc.).
Teaching Method
Interactive lectures, debates, role play, one-on-one meetings, and small-group discussions.
Evaluation Method
A 6-page paper, Canvas postings, regular self-evaluation, peer critiques, class participation, pop quizzes (ungraded), and 1-minute papers (ungraded).
Class Materials (Required)
Cliff, Michelle, No Telephone to Heaven, New York: E.P. Dutton, 1987.
Gurnah, Abdulrazak, Paradise. New Press, 1994.
Ihimaera, Witi. Nights in the Gardens of Spain, Auckland: Seeker and Warburg, 1995.
Njau, Rebeka. Ripples in the Pool, Nairobi: TransAfrica, 1975.
Obejas, Achy. Memory Mambo, Pittsburgh: Cleis Press, 1996.
Powell, Patricia. The Pagoda, New York: Mariner Books, 1999.
Class Attributes
Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity