African Narratives

Module title	African Narratives
Module code	EAS3190
Academic year	2019/0
Credits	30
Module staff	Dr Kate Wallis (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks		11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	30

Module description

Moving across genre and medium, this module introduces you to the range and dynamism of narratives produced by African authors from 1960 to today. You will explore the ways in which literary texts – from short stories to film, memoir to poetry, novels to Twitter fictions – engage with and navigate identities, geographies and their modes of production. Particular emphasis will be placed on the spaces of literary production through which texts emerge and circulate – from small magazines to film festivals, blogs to literary prizes – making this module particularly suitable for those of you interested in a career in publishing or the creative industries.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module will introduce you to African literature and film and is centred upon three core themes:

diverse forms of identity-making (narratives of Independence, African feminisms, language politics)
geographies (African cities, nationalism, pan-Africanism)
circulation (cultures of publishing, literary activism, popular cultures, cultural value).

You will explore these key themes through close readings of texts, considering the ways in which narrative structures and aesthetics both intersect with and can contribute to an understanding of the social, cultural, economic and political issues that have defined life on the continent over the last 60 years.

You will consider texts using a wide-range of theoretical lenses including postcolonialism, transnationalism, national identity, migration and diaspora, language and identity, gender, and African popular cultures. Both the literary and theoretical texts studied on this module will be Africa-centred, developing critical thinking skills that move away from dominant Euro-American perspectives.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. Demonstrate an informed critical appreciation of specific films and literature by African authors produced from 1960 (post-independence) to the present
2. Demonstrate an informed critical understanding of the shifting forms and spaces through which African narratives from 1960 to the present have been produced and circulate
3. Demonstrate an ability to relate African film and fiction to different textual forms and media and to the social, economic, cultural, political and historical contexts out of which they emerge
4. Articulate and evaluate the significance of literary and filmic texts through different and Africa-centred theoretical perspectives (Postcolonialism, Transnationalism, African Feminisms, African Popular Cultures)
5. Demonstrate an advanced ability to analyse African literature and film (1960 to present) and to relate its concerns and its modes of representation to different social, political, economic and historical contexts
6. Demonstrate an informed and critical understanding of relevant scholarly work in the field of African literatures and cultures

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

7. Demonstrate a developed ability to apply skills of close reading and to make connections between different texts across the module
8. Demonstrate advanced skills in the close formal, thematic, generic, comparative and authorial analysis of different kinds of literary and popular texts
9. Demonstrate advanced skills in the research and evaluation of relevant critical, historical and theoretical materials for the study of film and literature
10. Demonstrate an advanced ability to understand and interrelate texts and discourses in relation to familiar and new conceptual and theoretical frameworks, and an ability to link and synthesise different modes of analyses of relevant theoretical ideas
11. Demonstrate an advanced ability to understand and analyse relevant theoretical ideas, and to apply these ideas to literary texts

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

12. Through seminar work and workshops, demonstrate advanced oral communication skills, and an ability to work both individually and as a team
13. Through essay-writing, demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographical skills, a capacity to construct a coherent, substantiated argument, a capacity to write clear and correct prose and develop planning, organisational and problem solving skills
14. Through workshops and group-work, demonstrate the ability to think laterally and demonstrate originality in problem solving and lines of questioning, express and communicate creative ideas, and initiate and sustain creative projects
15. Through research for seminars and essays, demonstrate advanced proficiency in identifying appropriate primary and secondary materials, information analysis and work on your own initiative
16. Through research and writing, demonstrate an advanced capacity to make critical use of secondary material, to question assumptions, and to reflect on their own learning process

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

Identities:

Nationalism
African Feminism
Language Debates
Conflict

Geographies:

Indian Ocean
African Cities
Transnationalism / Pan-Africanism

Circulations:

African Popular Cultures
Literary Prizes, Literary Magazines, Literary Form
Literary Activism, Literary Celebrity

Workshop topics may include ‘Interviewing Skills’, ‘Blogging African Literature’, ‘Digital Fictions’ and ‘Literary and Film Festivals’.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
40	260	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled learning and teaching	22	Seminars will focus on an in-depth discussion of the literary and filmic texts
Scheduled learning and teaching	11	Lectures and workshops
Scheduled learning and teaching	7	Film screenings x 4
Guided independent study	33	Study group preparation and meetings
Guided independent study	70	Seminar preparation (individual)
Guided independent study	157	Reading, research and essay preparation

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Interview with African cultural producer and write-up.	30	1500 words	1-3, 5, 9, 12, 14-16	Feedback sheet with opportunity for tutorial follow-up
Essay proposal	20	1000 words	1-11, 13, 15-16	Written feedback from tutor in seminar, supplemented with feedback sheet and opportunity for tutorial follow-up
Essay	50	3500 words	1-11, 13, 15-16	Feedback sheet with opportunity for tutorial follow-up

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Interview with African cultural producer and write-up	Interview with African cultural producer and write-up	1-3, 5, 9, 12, 14-16	Referral/Deferral period
Essay proposal	Essay proposal	1-11, 13, 15-16	Referral/Deferral period
Essay	Essay	1-11, 13, 15-16	Referral/Deferral period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Texts studied on the module may include:

Meja Mwangi, Going Down River Road (1976)
Mariama Ba, So Long a Letter (1981)
Ken Saro-Wiwa, Sozaboy (1985)
Nuruddin Farah, Maps (1986)
Phaswane Mpe, Welcome to Our Hillbrow (2001)
Aminatta Forna, The Devil That Danced on the Water (2002)
Warsan Shire, Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth (2011)

Screenings of the following films:

Ousmane Sembene, Xala (1975)
Judy Kibinge, Something Necessary (2013)
Biyi Bandele, Half of a Yellow Sun (2014)

Secondary Reading:

Achebe, Chinua. ‘The African Writer and the English Language’, in Williams and Chrisman (eds.), Colonial Discourse and Postcolonial Theory, (Abingdon: Routledge, 2013) pp.428-434.
Adichie, Chimamanda We Should All Be Feminists (London: Fourth Estate, 2014).
Barber, Karin. "Popular Arts in Africa." African Studies Review 30 (3) (1987):1-78.
Currey, James. Africa Writes Back: The African Writers Series & The Launch of African Literature (Oxford: James Currey, 2008).
English, James F. The Economy of Prestige: Prizes, Awards, and the Circulation of Cultural Value. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2005).
Gikandi, Simon. "Globalization and the Claims of Postcoloniality." The South Atlantic Quarterly 100 (3) (2001):627-58.
Nnaemeka, Obioma, "Nego-Feminism: Theorizing, Practicing, and Pruning Africa’s Way," Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 29, no. 2 (Winter 2004): 357-385.
Mbembe, Achille, and Sarah Nuttall. "Writing the World from an African Metropolis." Public Culture 16 (3) (2004):347-372.
Newell, Stephanie, and Onookome Okome, eds. Popular Culture in Africa: The Episteme of the Everyday. (Abingdon: Routledge, 2014).
Wainaina, Binyavanga. "How to Write about Africa." Granta 92 (2005).

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

The ELE site will include seminar and workshop schedules, week-by-week supplementary reading in PDF format, recommended further reading, and internet resources. Additional slides and handouts will be uploaded weekly.

Key words search

African literature, African film, Publishing, Popular Cultures, Identities, Geographies, Circulations

Credit value	30
Module ECTS	15
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	6
Available as distance learning?	Yes
Origin date	06/02/2018
Last revision date	05/09/2019