Narrating Nations and Colonialism: Gender Representations in the African Literary Map (Past…

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This seminar explores the intersections of gender, nation, and colonialism in African literatures written in Portuguese. It juxtaposes colonial literature, which often reproduced subalternizing images of women to sustain imperial ideologies, with African literary voices that redefined nationhood and cultural identity. Through close reading of poetry, short stories, and novels from the late 19th century to the present, students will analyze how female figures appear as both symbols of colonial desire and as pillars of anti-colonial and postcolonial imagination. Authors include Alfredo Troni, Fausto Duarte, Tomaz Vieira da Cruz, Pepetela, Dina Salústio, and Paulina Chiziane. The course emphasizes gendered narratives of nativism, nationalism, colonialism, and postcolonial memory while foregrounding critical theories on coloniality, subalternization, and African modernities. Students are expected to lead discussions, engage critically with texts, and develop a final research paper. Fluency in Portuguese (reading and discussion).