English Department

While the novel emerged in the 18^th Century, it was in the 19^th Century that it became the dominant form of western literature, a form which has given rise to developments, reactions and responses throughout the 20^th and 21^st century world. Serialisation in periodicals meant the novel reached an increasingly wide readership, and its subjects became those of concern to ordinary people: industry, the city, nature, war, poverty, crime, marriage, religion. Although the dominant trend was realistic, the novel also ventured into the domains of fantasy, romance, adventure, horror and exploration. The century was a period of significant social, political, economic and psychological changes and these are registered in the work of the major novelists, a selection of whose works will be included in this Paper. Students will be expected to undertake individual reading of the novels; to keep in touch with lecturers; and to submit regular written exercises on their reading. While students are encourage to acquire hard copies of the texts, all are available in electronic format, and most have audiobooks associated with them

Drama is one of the oldest forms of literature, dating back to the ancient Greeks, and also occurring in the civilisations of the east (Japanese Nō theatre, Sanskrit theatre, Chinese opera, for example). Its key features: are performance, in theatres, by actors, before an audience, often accompanied by music and dance. Hence it is distinguished as being 'collaborative in production and collective in reception' (acknowledgements to Wikipedia). The distinction between tragedy and comedy dates back to the ancient Greeks; while the notion of a drama as a play starts in the C19th; accommodating, in the C20th, radio drama, film and television performances. Recognising these traditions and influences, this Paper will nonetheless focus on drama as text – text to be read, analysed, discussed and written about. This is a survey course, and so texts are selected from different periods and different areas round the world. Texts in translation will be included, as will adaptation of plays into film. In addition to shorter assignments, students will be encouraged to engage in their own research, focusing on a particular theme or aspect or playwright for a longer research essay.

Course Description

Narrative as a genre is becoming increasingly defined and increasingly important, not only in the field of literature, but also in ordinary life, in other academic disciplines, and in professional domains such as therapy and the courts. This paper examines the forms and effects of narrative in a range of spheres. Theoretical concepts such as structure, functions, character, event, setting, spatialisation, time, voice, narrative levels and focalisation will be explored through applications to specific texts. The first semester will focus on stories from around the world, and the second on more literary examples of narrative.

Outcomes

Students will

·        Read and respond to a range of stories from around the world and from history

·        Develop a theoretical understanding of the genre of narrative

·        Undertake research on selected topics within the field

·        Present their views and participate in class discussion

·        Write critically and academically about these topics.

This course deals with African literature in its broad sense– encompassing orature, literature, culture and poetry from around the continent and the Diaspora. Through the study of these texts, students will explore the continued struggles for political, educational, gender, religious, cultural and economic equality. Emphasis is placed on the struggles by the marginalized such as women, the poor, blacks, the physically challenged and the minorities against their own governments, patriarchy, religious creed, and intolerance in general.

Further, the course aims to provide key narratives from the colonial period to post-apartheid South Africa in the 1990s. Thematic issues that will be discussed include the use and abuse of power, national and domestic power, race relations in colonial/post-colonial contexts, the depiction of women in literature and the role of education in Africa in the formation of African identities.

The course recognizes the complexity of the African scene; therefore, it maintains that romanticizing it in literature as innocent, pure, primitive and artless is preposterous. Colonialization and other forms of oppression did not only introduce a new way of life such as western education and Christianity, but also sharpened the differences that existed between males and females, tribal groups as well as between the rich and the poor. African writers depict these experiences in their writing because they cannot remove themselves from their context. In a 1963 speech Mphahlele angrily responds to a suggestion that writers should extricate themselves from the issues on the ground, thus:

I am a violent person and proud of it because it is often a healthy human state of mind; someday I’m going to plunder, rape, set things on fire, I’m going to cut somebody’s throat; I’m going to subvert a government; I’m going to organize a coup d’état; yes, I’m going to oppress my own people; I’m going to hunt the rich fat black men who bully the small weak black men and destroy them; I’m going to become a capitalist, and woe to all who cross my path or who want to be my servants or chauffeurs and so on; I’m going to lead a breakaway church there is money in it; I’m going to attack the black bourgeoisie while I cultivate a garden, rear dogs and parrots; listen to jazz and classics, read “culture”, and so on. Yes, I’m going to organize a strike. Don’t you know that sometimes I kill to the rhythm of drums and cut the sinews of a baby to cure it of paralysis?                        

Please visit: https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/speeches-global-african-history/1963-eskia-ezekiel-mphahlele-negritude-literature/ [Accessed: 8 March 2021]                                                                                                          

Finally, this course intends to traverse this complexity through texts that emerge from different regions of the continent. As Mphahlele suggests, the continent’s experience of conquest, colonialism, resistance, independence and disillusionment that African literature captures cannot and shouldn’t be trivialized. It is for this reason that the texts covered here present Africa in her beauty and ghastliness, in her promise and failures, in her struggles and triumphs, in her past and present, from her state of oppression to freedom, from her state of bondage to power, from slavery to slave-mastery.

The Research Paper is an important component of the Honours degree. It is also an introduction to research so that students who subsequently proceed to a Masters degree have had a dry run at the process. It thus provides an opportunity for you to do a small-scale project under the guidance of a staff member in order to explore an area that interests you; to consult what others have said about it; to practise the skills involved; and most importantly, to begin to develop your own voice as a scholar.

For this research you will consult relevant secondary sources, identified and selected in consultation your supervisor. The point of this literature review is to help you shape and formulate your own ideas – not just to simply reproduce what others have said and then move on to what you want to say. You need to be aware of existing scholarship, and to engage and grapple with it. In this way you will begin to develop your own scholarly voice.

This Paper will offer an introduction to the Renaissance period in English literature. One key focus will be on the development of the sonnet, during this period, in the context of other lyrical writings. The second key focus will be a reading of a selection of plays by Shakespeare’s in the different genres in which he wrote. Copies of the poetry will be supplied, but students are encouraged to acquire a complete works of Shakespeare, or hard copy texts of the plays – many of which can be found second-hand. All the texts are available in electronic format, and a range of productions of the dramas can be watched on YouTube. Students in the past have found this Paper challenging but very rewarding, especially for their work as teachers.

English Literature, third year level (Part C): Poetry, Drama, Novels, and Theory studies.

English Literature, third year level (Part D): Poetry, Drama, Novels, and Theory studies.