Universität Wien

141072 KU Alternative Literary Geographies in Short Stories on African Metropoles (2024S)

6.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 14 - Orientalistik, Afrikanistik, Indologie und Tibetologie
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: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 06.03. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06
  • Wednesday 13.03. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06
  • Wednesday 20.03. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06
  • Wednesday 10.04. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06
  • Wednesday 17.04. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06
  • Wednesday 24.04. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06
  • Wednesday 08.05. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06
  • Wednesday 15.05. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06
  • Wednesday 22.05. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06
  • Wednesday 29.05. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06
  • Wednesday 05.06. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06
  • Wednesday 12.06. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06
  • Wednesday 19.06. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06
  • Wednesday 26.06. 09:00 - 11:00 Inst. f. Afrikawissenschaften, Seminarraum 2 UniCampus Hof 5 2M-O1-06

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

In this course, we explore the social and cultural dynamics of African metropolises through the stories that contemporary authors tell about them. In a research on literary representations of Nairobi, Kenyan literary scholar Joyce Nyairo (2007) writes: "The approach that I have adopted in this study very deliberately focuses on the agency obtaining in African cities. This is necessary because all too often, talk of African cities is invariably turned into a litany of Africa's boundless chaos. The focus is usually on the decay - both moral and physical - on the marginalised slums and third-rate housing riddled with insecurity, hunger and disease, and on unemployment and infinite poverty, as if Africans have had no other ways of occupying towns. To limit the study of Africa's urban life to these overwhelmingly bleak themes is to completely miss the point of the vivaciousness and opportunity that abounds in these spaces." (127-28)
Young and lesser-known authors in particular, supported by initiatives such as the Caine Prize for African Writing, anthologies and the creation of new literary magazines and digital formats, have created alternative narratives to the alleged chaos of African cities in short stories. They shed light on their heterogeneity without denying the often extreme inequality on the one hand and without feeding one-sided ideas of the African megacity, which are primarily characterised by chaos, poverty and crime, on the other. Against the backdrop of multidisciplinary analyses of the dynamics of African metropolises, we read a selection of short stories focusing on how they address inequality on the one hand and reflect on (new) forms of community, individual and collective agency on the other.

Assessment and permitted materials

- Attendance and active participation
- Reading and discussion of selected short stories and research articles during the semester
- Written assignments on the texts during the semester: 3 short essays on one short story each, 2 commentaries on one research article each
- Written final paper either in the form of a semester reflection or a short story. Length: 6-8 pages. Deadline: 31 August

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

All partial performances must be completed in order to pass the course. Attendance is mandatory, excused absences for a maximum of three classes are tolerated. Each assignment is assessed separately.
Assessment key:
- Short essays and active discussion of the short stories: 20% each
- Written comments and active discussion of the research literature: 20%
- Final paper: 20 %

Examination topics

Keine Prüfung

Reading list

Primärliteratur:
Abani, Chris, ed. 2018. Lagos Noir. Akashic Noir Series. Brooklyn, NY: Akashic Books.
Kimani, Peter, ed. 2020. Nairobi Noir. Cassava Republic Press edition. Abuja: Cassava Republic.

Sekundärliteratur:
Kinyanjui, Mary Njeri. 2016. “Ubuntu Nests and the Emergence of an African Metropolis: Ubuntu Nests and Africa Metropolis.” Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 37 (3): 418–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjtg.12173.
Nyairo, Joyce. 2007. “‘Modify’: Jua Kali as a Metaphor for Arica’s Urban Ethnicities and Cultures.” In Urban Legends, Colonial Myths: Popular Culture and Literature in East Africa, edited by James Ogude and Joyce Nyairo, 125–51. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.

Association in the course directory

SAL.T1
SAL.T2
SAL.KU

Last modified: We 06.03.2024 11:06