SFE21213 Introduction to Colonial and Postcolonial Literature (Autumn 2019)

The course is connected to the following study programs

Compulsory course within the English Extension Course.
May be taken as part of the bachelor programme in Society, Language and Culture.

Lecture Semester

English extension course: 1st semester (autumn)
Part of Bachelor in society, language and culture: 3rd or 5th semester (autumn)

The student's learning outcomes after completing the course

Knowledge
The student

• understands the meaning of colonial, postcolonial and ecocritical. 
• has acquired knowledge of significant works of literature written in English from around the globe, and their social and environmental contexts
• is familiar with some key terms of postcolonial studies and ecocriticism: settlers and indigenous peoples, language and place, race and identity, landscape and animals.

Skills
The student can

• analyze and discuss works of postcolonial literature
• compare works of literature from different regions
• apply ideas and terminology from postcolonial and ecocritical theory to literary texts

General competence
The student

• has enhanced analytic and writing skills. 
• has been encouraged to think critically about connections between literature and the environment. 
• has increased his/her understanding of the ways in which English language and literature have been transformed, enriched and challenged by the impact of colonialism around the world. 

Content

Beginning with late nineteenth-century colonial texts, and then moving to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the course covers literature from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria and India. We will consider the texts in their social, historical and environmental contexts, and use postcolonial theory and ecocriticism to explore the nature and roles of literature in a globalized world. We will cover themes such as: settlers and indigenous peoples, language and place, race and identity, landscape and animals.

Forms of teaching and learning

Work and teaching methods include lectures, seminars, group work and supervision sessions. Students are expected to be well prepared for all seminars and to actively participate in discussions.

Workload

Approx. 280 hours.

Coursework requirements - conditions for taking the exam

Students are to submit a written assignment which has to be approved by the lecturer for the student to be allowed to sit for the exam.

Examination

5-hour written exam
Language use as well as content count in the assessment.
Permitted aids: English-English dictionary.
The exam paper is assessed on the A-F grading scale.

Examiners

External and internal examiner or two internal examiners.

Course evaluation

This course is evaluated twice each semester.

Literature

Updated June 26th 2019

Joseph Conrad. Heart of Darkness (1899)

Rudyard Kipling. The Jungle Book (1894) Chinua Achebe. Things Fall Apart (1958)

Patricia Grace. Potiki (1986)

Kate Grenville. The Secret River (2005) J. M Coetzee. Waiting for the Barbarians (1980)

Charlotte Wood. Animal People (2011)

Kathleen Jamie. The Bonniest Companie (2015)

As well as a selection of shorter texts supplied on Canvas. The literature may change from year to year.

Recommended

John McCleod. Beginnng Postcolonialism (2010)

Graham Huggan and Helen Tiffin. Postcolonial Ecocriticism. (2015)