Universität Wien

143264 VO VO African Women's Writing and Feminism in the 21st Century (2021S)

DIGITAL

An/Abmeldung

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

Details

Sprache: Englisch

Prüfungstermine

Lehrende

Termine

Das Semester ist derzeit digital geplant.
Mo 13:00-14:30
Beginn: 08.03.2021


Information

Ziele, Inhalte und Methode der Lehrveranstaltung

CONTENT: This is a follow up of VO 143121-1 African Women’s Writing and Feminism in the 20th Century. The premise of the course is that in the new millennium, African feminism has overcome postcolonial positioning of late 20th century and undergone an epistemic and discursive shift. While postcolonial feminism rejected the idea of global sisterhood and focused on the differences between women’s experiences, contemporary African women writers see feminism as a transnational movement, because the history of colonialism is no longer central to their inscriptions of female identities. Responding to a growing backlash against feminism worldwide, their discourses about gender emphasize “relations of mutuality, co-responsibility, and common interests, anchoring the idea of feminist solidarity” (Mohanty 2003, 242). “African feminism” and “Western feminism” are no longer seen by African women as homogenous and separate entities, but rather as working frames that enable the historicizing of “the interconnectedness of the histories, experiences and struggles” (ibid.) of African and Western women. Such a transnational and trans-historical feminist perspective allows for a unique examination of the relationship between gender and modernity while presenting an opportunity to situate African women’s literature as an integral part of women’s literary history. In other words, African feminism has become global, appropriated and influential outside of Africa. This shows that feminism is not a language that is meaningless outside of its own cultural context, but intelligible across cultures because it is inscribed directly onto women’s bodies. By turning their attention to the female body as the prime site of women’s victimization and freedom, contemporary African Anglophone women writers reframe feminism as a demand for universal human rights while creating some of the most radical feminist texts of the present time.
METHOD: Online lecture and discussion (Big Blue Button)

Art der Leistungskontrolle und erlaubte Hilfsmittel

Written digital exam OR Argumentative essay (3500-4000 words).

The exam will include mini-essay essay questions. Minimum requirement 50% correct answers.

The final essay should analyze at least one work (novel, play, or at least 3 short stories). You will be given a list of app. 20 essay topics to choose from. The final essay is not just a summary of what was said in the lecture. It should show your own approach to a primary work and bring original observations and/or opinions.

There will be 4 dates for written exam and essay submission. It is possible to repeat the exam 3 times.

Mindestanforderungen und Beurteilungsmaßstab

The exam will include mini-essay essay questions. Minimum requirement 50% correct answers.

The final essay should analyze at least one work (novel, play, or at least 3 short stories). You will be given a list of app. 20 essay topics to choose from. The final essay is not just a summary of what was said in the lecture. It should show your own approach to a primary work and bring original observations and/or opinions.

There will be 4 dates for written exam and essay submission. It is possible to repeat the exam 3 times.

Prüfungsstoff

-African women's literary history
-African feminism
-transnational feminism
-African women and human rights
-sexuality and feminism
-African women, decolonization and modernity
-the politics of representation
-material culture of publishing

Literatur

PRIMARY LITERATURE:
NOVELS:
Chika Unigwe, On Black Sisters’ Street (2009)
Chinelo Okparanta, Under the Udala Trees (2015)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Purple Hibiscus (2003), Americanah (2013)
Sefi Atta, Everything Good Will Come (2005), Swallow (2010), A Bit of Difference (2013)
Unoma Azuah, Sky-High Flames (2005)
Lola Shoneyin, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives (2010)
Panashe Chigumadzi, Sweet Medicine (2015)
Ayobami Adebayo, Stay With Me (2017)
Angela Makholwa, Red Ink (2007), Black Widow Society (2013)
Kopano Matlwa, Coconut (2007), Period Pain (2016)
Akwaeke Emezi, Freshwater (2018)
Mary Karooro Okurut, The Official Wife (2003), The Switch (2016)
Goretti Kyomuhendo, Whispers from Vera (2002)

SHORT STORIES:
Chika Unigwe, ‘The Secret’ (2005)
Chinelo Okparanta, Happiness, Like Water (2013)
Monica Arac de Nyeko, ‘Jambula Tree’ (2007)
Panashe Chigumadzi, ‘You Can’t Eat Beauty’ (2019)
Wame Molefhe, ‘Botswana Rain’ from Go Tell the Sun (2011)
Doreen Baingana, ‘Tropical Fish’ (2005), ‘Lost in Los Angeles’ (2003) and ‘One Woman’s Body’ (2005) from Tropical Fish: Stories out of Entebbe (2005)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, ‘You in America’ and ‘The Arrangers of Marriage’ in The Thing Around Your Neck (2006)
Sefi Atta, ‘News from Home’ from News from Home (2009)

ESSAYS:
Adichie, Chimamanda. We Should All Be Feminists (2014), Dear Ijeawele (2017)
---. Chimamanda Adichie on Black Hair and the Narrow Definition of Beauty.
https://www.thecut.com/2016/12/chimamanda-adichie-on-black-hair-and-redefining-beauty.html
Ahikire, Josephine. 2014. “African feminism in context: Reflections on the legitimation battles, victories and reversals.” Feminist Africa 19: 7-23.
Panashe Chigumadzi, “Why I’m No Longer Talking to Nigerians About Race” (2019)
Dabiri, Emma. 2014. “Why I am not an Afropolitan.” Africa is a Country website.
Eric- Udorie, June, ed. Can We All Be Feminists? London: Virago, 2018.
Eze, Chielozona. 2015. “We, Afropolitans.” Journal of African Cultural Studies, 28(1), 114-119.
Gqola, Pumla Dineo. Reflecting Rogue: Inside the Mind of a Feminist (2017)
---. Rape: A South African Nightmare (2015)
---. “Ufanele uqavile: Blackwomen, feminisms and postcoloniality in Africa.” Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity 16.50 (2001): 11–22.
Kyomuhendo, Goretti. 2005. “To Be an African Woman Writer: The Joys and Challenges.” In Words and Worlds: African Writing, Literature and Society, ed. by Susan Arndt – Katrin Berndt, 185 – 192. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Lewis, Desiree. 2001. “Introduction: African Feminisms.” Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity 16. 50: 4–10.
Matembe, Miria. “I Must Call Myself a Feminist.” Women Writing Africa: The Eastern Region, ed. Amandina Lihamba et al., 437. New York: Feminist Press, 2007.
Salami, Minna. Ms Afropolitan (blog) https://www.msafropolitan.com
Selasi, Taiye. (2005). “Bye Bye Babar.” The LIP Magazine.
Sephodi, Malebo. 2017. Miss Behave. Auckland Park: Blackbird Books.
Tamale, Sylvia. 2006. “African Feminism: How Should We Change?” Development 49.1: 38-41.

THEORY and CRITICISM:
Cock, Jackie. “Women in South Africa’s Transition to Democracy.” In Transitions, Environments, Translations: Feminism in International Politics, ed. Joan W. Scott, Cora Kaplan, Debra Keates, 310–333. New York: Routledge, 1997.
Eze, Chielozona. “Feminism with a Big ‘F’: Ethics and the Rebirth of African Feminism in Chika Unigwe’s On Black Sisters’ Street.” Research in African Literatures 45.4 (2014): 89-103.
---. Ethics and Human Rights in Anglophone African Women’s Literature: Feminist Empathy (2016).
Kruger, Marie. Women’s Literature in Kenya and Uganda: The Trouble with Modernity (2011)
McLeod, John. Chapter 7: Diaspora identities in Beginning Postcolonialism (2000)
Murray, Jessica. “Constructions of Gender in Contemporary South African Crime Fiction: A Feminist Literary Analysis of the Novels of Angela Makholwa.” English Studies in Africa 59.2 (2016): 14–26.
Norridge, Zoe. 2013. Perceiving Pain in African Literatur

Zuordnung im Vorlesungsverzeichnis

ÜAL 1, ÜAL 2, SAL A, SAL B,
MA: SAL.VO.1, SAL.VO.2,
EC-148, EC-647

Letzte Änderung: Fr 12.05.2023 00:17