Universität Wien

135114 SE BA-SE: "Cats, Dogs, Chameleons"? Mapping Literature Nobel Laureates from 'Africa' (2024S)

7.50 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 13 - Europäische und Vergleichende Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Hello,

the course will alternate between onsite and online teaching.

Welcome!.

Rémi Tchokothe

  • Thursday 07.03. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum 2 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Thursday 14.03. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum 2 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Thursday 21.03. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 11.04. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum 2 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Thursday 18.04. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum 2 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Thursday 25.04. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 02.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 16.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum 2 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Thursday 23.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum 2 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Thursday 06.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 13.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum 2 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Thursday 20.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 27.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Goals

1. To outline a literary, sociological, and linguistic biography of literature Nobel laureates from Africa.
2. To appraise the knowledgeS their texts produce about ‘Africa’.
3. To highlight the entanglements between literatures from ‚Africa‘ and the ‚World‘.
4. To encourage my co-teachers to develop a critical reading of the politics and polemics of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
5. To develop comparative research and presentation skills.

Content

Selected literary works; essays; book chapters; reports; critical analytical papers; acceptance speeches, and short video material will be read, viewed in small groups, and discussed in class.

Methods

1. Group work throughout the semester, peer-instruction and teacher-instruction
2. Group research and oral presentations on selected topics and Nobel laureates
3. Active participation in class discussions

Assessment and permitted materials


1. Group research and group oral presentations (30%)
2. Submission of a 10-page essay at the end of the semester (70%) (Generative AI tools are not allowed)

NB: Students who took this Proseminar for Module 4 during the Winter Term 2021/2022 cannot take this course as a BA Seminar.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

1. Reading of selected material and active participation in class
2. Group presentation (30%) of the final grade
3. Individual essay (70% of the final grade)

Examination topics

1. Knowledge of the selected reading
2. Critical reading, comparative thinking, and handling
3. Proper research and academic writing

Reading list

Introductory Readings

Chamoiseau, Patrick. 2017. Frères Migrants. Seuil: Paris
Glissant, Edouard. 1996. Introduction à une poétique du divers. Paris: Gallimard.
Liyong, Taban lo. 2003. « V.S. Naipaul, Chinua Achebe, Nobel Literature Prizes and African Writers as Cats, Dogs and Chameleons ». In: The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 38 (1). South Africa: University of Venda, 1 3. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021989404381002
Meyers, Jeffrey. 2007. « The Literary Politics of the Nobel Prize ». In: The Antioch Review 65 (2), 214 223. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40284378

Selected works by Nobelists (to be read in groups!)

Coetzee, John Maxwell. 1982. Waiting for the Barbarians. Penguin Books.
Gurnah, Abdulrazak. 2020. Afterlives. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Gordimer, Nadine. 2010. Life Times, stories, 1952-2007. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Mahfouz, Naguib, Stewart, Philip (translator). 1997. Children of Gebelaawi. Passeggiata Press.
Soyinka, Wole. 1963. A Dance of the Forests. Oxford University Press.

Association in the course directory

BA M11

Last modified: We 03.07.2024 15:05