English (post) Colonial Culture

Recommended Prerequisites

Advanced reading skills in English. Students should be able to read primary and critical texts in English.

Teaching Methods

Some expository classes but more often class discussion of texts, images or films.

Learning Outcomes

- The course explores questions about identity, race, ethnicity and intercultural contact in the specific context of British colonialism and post-colonialism.

- The course also provides a theoretical framework for the study of cultural discourses and practices.

- Students will acquire critical tools for the study of culture and learn to recognize the centrality of colonialism and post-colonialism in British society.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

The course deals with some of the most significant issues for the study of (post)colonialism and its impact on British culture and identity. Covering several centuries, from the Renaissance to the present, it has a twofold approach: 1. The study of critical concepts of Postcolonial Studies such as ‘alterity’, hybridity’, mimicry’, ‘going native’, ‘ambivalence’, etc.; 2. Analysis and discussion of a variety of texts, films and images from different sources and historical periods in the light of the framework provided. (N.B.: The syllabus may vary depending on changes in the teaching staff)

Head Lecturer(s)

Katarzyna Anna Pisarska

Assessment Methods

Final Assessment
Exam: 100.0%

Bibliography

Ashcroft, B. et al. (1998). Key Concepts in Post-colonial Studies. London: Routledge.

Loomba, A., (1998). Colonialism/Postcolonialism. London: Routledge.

Matos, J. (2005). V.S. Naipaul, Travel Writing and the Quest for Postcolonial Identities. South Asian Review, XXVI.1, 184-195.

Spurr, D. (1993). The Rhetoric of Empire. Durham: Duke University Press.

Theme, J. (2003). Post-Colonial Studies. The Essential Glossary. London: Oxford University Press.