Genres of African Literature

Catalog description

This course examines key genres within the field of African literature. As home to hundreds of different languages and ethnic groups, the African continent possesses a wide array of literary traditions, each of which has produced its own distinctive genres. This course will introduce students to some of the range and diversity of African literature by focusing on the history, form, and cultural context of one of more these literary genres. Possible topics include (but are not limited to) the structure and social function of folklore, epic poetry, and other forms of oral literatures; the history of fiction and nonfiction genres (crime fiction, science fiction, westerns, autobiography and autofiction, etc.); the consolidation of specific national and regional genres (e.g., the South African plaasroman); and the emergence of Black Consciousness writings and other types of protest literature. We will place these genres within their social, historical, and cultural context, from the legacies of slavery, colonialism, and anticolonial nationalism to the more recent growth in transnational literary movements and digital publishing.(Students will receive credit for ENG 3845 or BLS 3845, not both. These courses may substitute for each other with the F replacement policy)