Universität Wien

135044 PS Literar. Wechselbez.: Why I Write in English: Literature in World Englishes (2021W)

Prüfungsimmanente Lehrveranstaltung
DIGITAL

An/Abmeldung

Hinweis: Ihr Anmeldezeitpunkt innerhalb der Frist hat keine Auswirkungen auf die Platzvergabe (kein "first come, first served").

Details

max. 32 Teilnehmer*innen
Sprache: Englisch

Lehrende

Termine (iCal) - nächster Termin ist mit N markiert

The course be held on Zoom

  • Montag 11.10. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Montag 18.10. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Montag 25.10. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Montag 08.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Montag 15.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Montag 22.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Montag 29.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Montag 06.12. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Montag 13.12. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Montag 10.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Montag 17.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Montag 24.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Montag 31.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital

Information

Ziele, Inhalte und Methode der Lehrveranstaltung

Content: The question of language is the key political, aesthetic and philosophical issue in postcolonial literatures. It is because the Europeans who colonized other continents placed their languages at the top of the language hierarchy, while local languages were marginalized, degraded and despised as primitive. Due to the size and ambitions of the British Empire, the most wide-spread colonial language was English. Today English is spoken either as a first or as a second language in 75 countries in the world by 1.35 billion people. It also continues to be used in all former British colonies as the dominant language of literature. Why are Asian, African and Caribbean writers writing in English, long after independence? This course focuses on personal essays, memoirs and interviews with these writers and also looks at some of their fiction, poetry and films based on their texts to see how postcolonial writers are modifying English for their own purposes.Goals: On completion of this course you will have developed the ability to:-understand the development of Anglophone postcolonial literature and of world Englishes- analyse and understand the issue of language in postcolonial literatures -apply close reading skills to a variety of literary texts and be able to analyze them from a literary-critical and comparative perspective

Art der Leistungskontrolle und erlaubte Hilfsmittel

-4 short response papers (app. 500 words), handed in during the semester 20%
-oral presentation 20% as scheduled
-active weekly participation in class discussion 20%
-final essay 40% (3500 words) on a topic of own choice, from a list of weekly topics.
Absences: 3 absences allowed to pass the course
Permitted aids: any

Mindestanforderungen und Beurteilungsmaßstab

Detailed evaluation criteria:
Fulfillment of on-going assessment requirements:
-4 short response papers (app. 500 words), handed in during the semester 20%
-oral presentation 20% as scheduled
-active weekly participation in class discussion 20%
-final essay 40% (3500 words) on a topic of own choice, from a list of weekly topics.
Permitted aids: any
Assessment criteria for the final essay:

1) Content (in particular detection of the central points; clear formulation, structure and organization of the argument, supported with evidence from primary and secondary sources; the ability to read text closely and interpret both form and content; the ability to identify, analyse and understand the context and make connections; the ability to reflect critically on the relations between primary texts and relevant secondary texts, instead of just citing secondary texts as a source of authority and interpretation; correctness of methodology; originality; creativity; scope or relevance of the secondary literature used and their methodologically consistent incorporation): Here about 60% of the points will be awarded.

2) Format (esp. layout, formatting, and citation practice): Here about 20% of the points will be awarded.

3) Language (particularly scholarly terminology and correct use of technical terms; clear and understandable language; correct spelling, grammar, and sentence composition; care about style): Here about 20% of the points will be awarded.

In all three areas at least 50% of the points must be achieved in order to obtain credit. The mark breakdown is as follows:

Excellent (1) 90-100 %
Good (2) 80-89 %
Satisfactory enough (3) 65-79 %
Unsatisfactory (4) 50-64 %
Fail (5) 49 -0 %

Prüfungsstoff

Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Autobiography of an Unknown Indian. New York: Macmillan, 1951.
Raja Rao, Kanthapura (1937)
Braj B. Kachru, “The Alchemy of English.” From The Alchemy of English: The Spread, functions and Models of Non-Native Englishes. Oxford: Pergamon Institute, 1986. (5 pages)
Salman Rushdie, “The Empire Writes Back with a Vengeance”, The Times, July 3, 1982 (2 pages)
Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children (1982) – excerpt
Mukherjee, Meenakshi. “Divided by a Common Language.” The Perishable Empire. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000. (15 pages)
Chinua Achebe, “The African Writer and the English Language.” Transition 18 (1965)
Obi Wali, “The Dead End of African Literature?” Transition 10 (1963), pp. 13-15.
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (1958)
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, “The Language of African Literature” from Decolonising the Mind (1986)
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, “On the Abolition of the English Department” (1975)
Chinua Achebe, “Politics and Politicians of Language in African Literature”, from Education of a British-Protected Child (2009)
Ada Uzoamaka Azodo, “Creative Writing and Literary Activism: Interview with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.” Journal of the African Literature Association, 2:1 (2007), pp. 146-151.
Chimamanda Adichie, Americanah (2009)
“Dambudzo Marechera interviews himself.” 1985. In Dambudzo Marechera, 1952-1987, ed. Flora Veit-Wild and Ernst Schade. Harare: Baobab Books, 1988, pp. 6-8.
Dambudzo Marechera, The House of Hunger (1977)
Edward Kamau Brathwaite, History of the Voice: the development of nation language in Anglophone Caribbean poetry. New Beacon Books, 1984.
V. S. Naipaul, “Our Universal Civilization.” The Writer and the World: Essays, ed. by Pankaj Mishra. London: Picador, 2002. (14 pages)
V. S. Naipaul, Miguel Street (1959) - excerpts
The Mystic Masseur (2001) - film
Nuruddin Farah, “Childhood of my Schizophrenia,” Times Literary Supplement, 23-29 November 1990, p. 1264. (2 pages)
Nuruddin Farah, “Why I Write.” Third World Quarterly 10.4 (1988): 1591–1599.
Laila Lalami, "So to Speak", World Literature Today, Sept. 2009 (4 pages)

Literatur

(all texts will be available on Moodle. Some texts will only be read by presenters.)
PRIMARY LITERATURE:
Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Autobiography of an Unknown Indian. New York: Macmillan, 1951.
Raja Rao, Kanthapura (1937)
Braj B. Kachru, “The Alchemy of English.” From The Alchemy of English: The Spread, functions and Models of Non-Native Englishes. Oxford: Pergamon Institute, 1986. (5 pages)
Salman Rushdie, “The Empire Writes Back with a Vengeance”, The Times, July 3, 1982 (2 pages)
Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children (1982) – excerpt
Chinua Achebe, “The African Writer and the English Language.” Transition 18 (1965)
Obi Wali, “The Dead End of African Literature?” Transition 10 (1963), pp. 13-15.
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (1958)
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, “The Language of African Literature” from Decolonising the Mind (1986)
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, “On the Abolition of the English Department” (1975)
Chinua Achebe, “Politics and Politicians of Language in African Literature”, from Education of a British-Protected Child (2009)
Ada Uzoamaka Azodo, “Creative Writing and Literary Activism: Interview with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.” Journal of the African Literature Association, 2:1 (2007), pp. 146-151.
Chimamanda Adichie, Americanah (2009)
“Dambudzo Marechera interviews himself.” 1985. In Dambudzo Marechera, 1952-1987, ed. Flora Veit-Wild and Ernst Schade. Harare: Baobab Books, 1988, pp. 6-8.
Dambudzo Marechera, The House of Hunger (1977)
Edward Kamau Brathwaite, History of the Voice: the development of nation language in Anglophone Caribbean poetry. New Beacon Books, 1984.
V. S. Naipaul, “Our Universal Civilization.” The Writer and the World: Essays, ed. by Pankaj Mishra. London: Picador, 2002. (14 pages)
V. S. Naipaul, Miguel Street (1959) - excerpts
The Mystic Masseur (2001) - film
Nuruddin Farah, “Childhood of my Schizophrenia,” Times Literary Supplement, 23-29 November 1990, p. 1264. (2 pages)
Nuruddin Farah, “Why I Write.” Third World Quarterly 10.4 (1988): 1591–1599.
Laila Lalami, "So to Speak", World Literature Today, Sept. 2009 (4 pages)

SECONDARY LITERATURE:
Dwivedi, O. P. "Linguistic Experiments in Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children." Transnational Literature 1.1. (2008)
Gikandi, Simon and Abiola Irele, eds. The Cambridge History of African and Caribbean Literature. Cambridge UP, 2004.
Edwards, Justin. Postcolonial Literature. Palgrave, 2008.
Irele, Abiola. The African Experience in Literature and Ideology. London: Heinemann, 1981.
Macaulay, Thomas Babbington. Speeches, with the Minute on Indian Education, ed. G. M. Young. London: Oxford University Press, 1935.
Mukherjee, Meenakshi. "Divided by a Common Language." The Perishable Empire. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000. (15 pages)
Viswanathan, Gauri. Masks of Conquest: Literary Study and British Rule in India. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989.

Zuordnung im Vorlesungsverzeichnis

BA M4

Letzte Änderung: Do 04.07.2024 00:13