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| Semester | fall semester 2022 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Julia Rensing (julia.rensing@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | ‘The archive’ is an ambivalent and contested concept. As storages of knowledge, archives function as a window to the past. However, they are no neutral repositories of information – as Carolyn Hamilton reminds us, the archive “‘is shot through with questions of power.” (Archive and Public Life). In a similar vein, Okwui Enwezor notes that archives can “represent scenes of unbearable historical weight” (“Archive Fever”). In the past decades, academics, authors and artists have increasingly drawn our attention to the violence that particularly so-called ‘colonial archives’ perpetuate. In this course, we will explore the potential of creative works to challenge these power dynamics. We will discuss a variety of text forms, artworks and films which use archival material to renegotiate the past and to uncover alternative histories. By exploring these case studies, we aim to understand how creative engagement with archives opens new critical avenues to decolonize knowledge. Following a workshop format, we first engage with central debates and key theoretical texts on the subject to then examine a variety of creative works that draw on the archive for the production of narratives. In a self-study phase of 3 weeks (November), students will research archival artistic projects of their choice, which they will present in class towards the end of the semester. |
| Bibliography | Literature (selection): Yvette Christiansë, ‘“Heartsore”: The Melancholy Archive of Cape Colony Slavery’, The Scholar and Feminist Online, Published by the Barnard Center for Research on Women 7, no. 2 (Spring 2009). Saidiya Hartman, ‘Venus in Two Acts’, Small Axe 12, no. 2 (June 2008). Carine Zaayman, ‘Anarchive (Picturing Absence)’, in Uncertain Curature: In and out of the Archive, by Carolyn Hamilton and Pippa Skotnes (Johannesburg: Jacana, 2014). Artworks (selection): Sammy Baloji. Mémoire (2006); Vocabulaire(s) (2020), Onyeka Igwe. A So-Called Archive (2020), No Archive Can Restore You (2020) Belinda Kazeem-Kaminski. Unearthing. In Conversation (2017) Lebohang Kganye. Ke Lefa Laka: Her-story (2013) |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Thursday | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 22.09.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | --, -- |
| Thursday 29.09.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Thursday 06.10.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Thursday 13.10.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Thursday 20.10.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Thursday 27.10.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Thursday 03.11.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Thursday 10.11.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Thursday 17.11.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Thursday 24.11.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Thursday 01.12.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Thursday 08.12.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Thursday 15.12.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Thursday 22.12.2022 | 10.15-11.45 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Modules |
Modul: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Fields: Media and Imagination (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Kulturtechnische Dimensionen (Master's degree program: Cultural Techniques) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| 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 | Zentrum für Afrikastudien |