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69403-01 - Proseminar: Postcolonial Urbanities 3 CP

Semester fall semester 2023
Course frequency Once only
Lecturers Tamara Dima Imboden (tamaradima.imboden@unibas.ch, Assessor)
Content Cities are spaces of constant tension, constituted not solely by their architectural blueprints and physical sites, but also by the lives within them and individual inhabitants’ histories. This tension has long compelled literary scholars, as fictional cities are depicted in terms of technological advancement, wealth and opportunity, while simultaneously signifying danger, extreme poverty, and a lack of agency in the face of industrial development. How is this image complicated further by our everchanging urban landscape? Colonization, decolonization, globalization and migration have had a tremendous impact on both the shape of our cities and how we read them. This proseminar explores the concept of the ‘postcolonial city’ across a range of novels, short stories and other media. The course questions whether it is possible to maintain a monolithic image of a ‘postcolonial city,’ or whether we need to expand our definitions to encompass the vast variety of today’s urban spaces. Moreover, it explores the lingering effects of colonialism both in the so-called ‘postcolonial world’ and in the ‘West.’ In this way, we will question not only what might ‘conventionally’ be considered a postcolonial city, but also the ways in which we need to interrogate cities like New York or London as postcolonial. By the end of the course, students will have gained insight into theoretical approaches to studying the city in literature, postcolonial theory more generally, and a nuanced understanding of postcolonial cities’ fluctuating, complex and diverse representations.
Learning objectives - By the end of the course, students will have a broad understanding of how literary texts conceptualize and complicate the notion of the ‘postcolonial city.’
- Students will have attained insight into Postcolonial Studies and will have acquired a toolbox of theoretical and methodological approaches to studying cities in literature.
Bibliography Students should acquire and read the following novels before the start of term (more precise details on when the novels will be discussed will be uploaded later in the summer):

Lagoon - Nnedi Okorafor (2014)
How to Loiter in a Turf War - Coco Solid (2022)
Coco Solid's novel may be difficult to acquire: please contact the instructor if you wish to attain a digital copy.

All other reading material will be made available on ADAM.
Comments Please acquire and read the following novels:

Lagoon - Nnedi Okorafor (2014)
How to Loiter in a Turf War - Coco Solid (2022)
Coco Solid's novel may be difficult to acquire: please contact the instructor if you wish to attain a digital copy.


More details regarding primary texts will be uploaded in August.
Weblink ADAM

 

Admission requirements It is strongly recommended that this course is taken only after the successful completion of the "Introduction I + II: Literary Studies" proseminars.
Course application Please register by sending an email to tamaradima.imboden@unibas.ch by 10 September. Places are limited to 25 and will be distributed on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
Language of instruction English
Use of digital media Online, mandatory

 

Interval Weekday Time Room
wöchentlich Monday 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104

Dates

Date Time Room
Monday 18.09.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Monday 25.09.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Monday 02.10.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Monday 09.10.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Monday 16.10.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Tuesday 17.10.2023 14.15-16.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 212
Monday 23.10.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Monday 30.10.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Monday 06.11.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Monday 13.11.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Monday 20.11.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Monday 27.11.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Monday 04.12.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Monday 11.12.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Monday 18.12.2023 12.15-14.00 Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 104
Modules Modul: Introduction to Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Bachelor's degree subject: English)
Assessment format continuous assessment
Assessment details Regular attendance, active participation and one written assignment (a detailed outline of an argument).
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

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