- Department prefix: ENGL
- Course number: 3790
- Course title: Postcolonial Literature
- Credits: 3
- Prerequisites: ENGL.1010, ENGL.1020
- Format: Face to face with online component
Catalog Description of ENGL.3790, Postcolonial Literature
When the peoples of Africa, India, the Caribbean, Ireland, and Canada finally gained, to a greater and lesser extent, independence from the British during the 20th century, they found that their national, cultural, and individual identities had been radically altered by the experience of colonization. In this course, we will examine how authors have related this postcolonial condition. We will examine a diverse body of texts--poetry that eloquently describe the heroic journey out of colonialism, drama which lays bare the conflicts of assimilation, and novels which fantastically present political struggle--as we determine how postcolonial theory and literature affects and possibly redefines all literature.
ELOs Met
Diversity and Cultural Awareness (DCA).
Expectations for Student Learning Selected (2 out of 3 required)
Students must demonstrate knowledge of and/or skill in any two of the following criteria:
- The commonality and diversity among people and cultures across the globe.
- Identifying and analyzing indicators of discrimination and demonstration of how discriminatory practices and attitudes can create barriers for some and opportunities for others.
- Articulating answers to complex questions about other cultures and diverse groups, reflecting an awareness of diverse cultural and social group perspectives.
Explanation of How Expectations Will Be Met and Measured
The extensive and globally diverse readings in this course ask students not only to examine those examples of national literatures from a formal standpoint, but to consider the theoretical and political dimensions of the production of literature in a postcolonial context (1,3). Students will write weekly reflections on these key concepts (see Keywords assignment, attached, and online discussion expectations in syllabus) (1,3,4) as they observe them in the readings, and will be quizzed to confirm their comprehension (1,3). Students will be asked to present analyses of both the commonalities among postcolonial literatures and the social and historical forces that differentiate a given author or nation’s colonial and postcolonial experience, reflecting the vast diversity among perspectives represented in postcolonial literature (1,3). These more complex topics will be addressed in two essays on directly related topics and in a research paper (1,3,4). The grading criteria by which these papers are measured (indicated in the attached assignments) are heavily weighted toward a thorough understanding and significant exploration of the course topic, which directly addresses the Core Curriculum expectations for Diversity and Cultural Awareness. This course also meets the English Department’s Diverse Literary Traditions requirement for literature concentrators.
Course Syllabus