FR4591: COLONIALISM TO INDEPENDENCE: THE AFRICAN NOVEL IN FRENCH B (2015-2016)

Course Aims

The course aims to introduce students to the literature of Francophone Africa from the colonial period to independence and its aftermath.

Main Learning Outcomes

Like all Level-4 French options courses, this course has the following generic learning outcomes: students will apply critical reading skills to various forms of literary and non-literary French; they will select, evaluate and organize primary and secondary material, demonstrating an ability to synthesize material from disparate sources and to take account of the wider cultural context of the topic under consideration; will articulate their views in speech and writing using the appropriate discourse for the subject; will acquire habits of autonomous learning, independently applying insights gained on the course to unfamiliar material, and will conduct independent investigations using basic research methodology.

In addition, the course has the following subject-specific learning outcomes :  students will interpret key texts in Francophone literature with respect to their social, historical and political context. They will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the colonial experience in Africa, the struggle for and aftermath of independence from the former colonial power; they will discuss and analyse texts by drawing on appropriate postcolonial theory.

Content

This course will introduce students to the literature of Francophone Africa from the colonial period, the struggle for independence from the former colonial power and the aftermath of independence. After some general historical and social background, texts by individual authors will be studied, and there will be discussion of the general issues arising out of the texts taken separately, as well as the interrelation between them. The main themes will be: literature as historical document; the colonial experience; education and identity; alienation; irony and gender issues. In addition, students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research, setting the topics treated in their wider context and synthesizing material from a range of sources.

The course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR3591 Colonialism to Independence:  The African Novel in French A.

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

View FR4591 Timetable

More Information about Week Numbers

1st Attempt

In-course assessment: one written assignment 2500-3000 words (100%).

Resit

For honours students only: candidates achieving a CGS mark of E3-E1 may be awarded compensatory level 1 credit. Candidates achieving a CGS mark of less than E3 will be required to submit a new essay.

N/A

The assignment receives a CGS mark which the Departmental Handbook links to specific marking criteria, and written or verbal feedback in the form of tutors' comments is also given.  Additional informal feedback on performance and tutorial participation is offered in tutorials.  Tutors have office hours at which further feedback may be sought.

None.