Precolonial and Postcolonial English Vernacularity

Catalog description

This course considers the idea of the vernacular in pre-modern England, early modern Europe, and post-colonial Africa by sampling two long historical trajectories before and after the British empire, converging on Paul Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. One samples medieval and Renaissance writings in English in relation to its institutions up to Bunyan's dissenting work, the other the aesthetic and linguistic journey Bunyan's work later undertook in England and the British colonies in Africa. What happens to vernacularity in both spans? What aesthetics emerge from the clash between standardized and 'vulgar' 'Englishes' and African languages? Around Bunyan we will sample medieval chronicles, lyrics, Piers Plowman, Things Fall Apart, and other narratives and poetry from post-colonial Africa to pursue the relationships between language, identity, aesthetics, and power.