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41590-01 - Research seminar: Beyond Wars and Famine: Writing East Africa (4 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2015 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Christiane Schlote (christiane.schlote@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | In an interview in 2004, the Somali writer Nuruddin Farah recounts how Friedich Dürrenmatt once asked him, "Mr Farah, why should I read your books?" Farah answered that if he read his books, he would find a worldview that the couldn't find in a book by any other writer and that "no matter how happy one is with one's worldview, the truth is that our world - as Swiss, as American, as Somali - is incomplete without the additional worlds that will be brought to bear on that world, to make it richer and more fulfilling". In this seminar, we will engage with the work of authors from the diverse region of East Africa with a particular focus on writing from the Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia and Somalia. We will explore how East African writers and artists have responded to major historical and socio-cultural events such as European colonialism, British rule, ethnic violence, dictatorial regimes and censorship and we will discuss their thematically daring and stylistically innovative engagement with discourses of postcoloniality, diaspora, gender relations and the controversial concept of the 'failed state'. |
| Learning objectives | Students will be introduced to the multifaceted nature of East African literary and cultural texts and their contexts in Africa and in the diaspora. |
| Bibliography | Students should acquire the following texts: Dinaw Mengestu, "The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears", and Nuruddin Farah, "Gifts". Theoretical and additional primary texts will be made available on ADAM. |
| Weblink | ADAM |
| Admission requirements | For MA students only |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Doktorat Anglophone Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft: Empfehlungen (PhD subject: Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies) Doktorat Französische Literaturwissenschaft: Empfehlungen (PhD subject: French Literature) Modul Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Master's degree subject: English) Modul Culture and Society (Master's degree program: African Studies (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul English & American Literature (Master's degree subject: English (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Fields: Media and Imagination (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul Literatur- und kulturwissenschaftliche Forschung (Master's degree program: Literary Studies) Modul Literaturtheorie (Master's degree program: Literary Studies) Modul Research in Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Master's degree subject: English) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Regular and active participation, reading assignments, oral presentation |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |