LFU:online

Department of English Department of English

Dr. Geoffrey Vernon Davis Dr. Geoffrey Vernon Davis

609681

Literatures in English: Postcolonial Drama

SE 2

10

weekly

each semester

English

The aim of this seminar is to study a range of English-language plays from a variety of countries, all of them territories of the former British Empire, whose literary production is characterised in one way or another by the legacy of imperialism and has thus often been described as postcolonial. There is now a large body of such work, much of which has not been seen on European stages. The plays’ interest lies in the manner in which they variously re-interpret imperial history (Karnad and Soyinka), address the reality of apartheid (Ngema), depict the legacy of racist policies (Harrison), engage with questions of identity (Verdecchia), or satirise the postcolonial state (Whaley). The plays have been selected for the way they exemplify postcolonial theatre practice and explore innovative modes of performance.

The chosen texts are: Jane Harrison (Australia, 1998) Stolen; Girish Karnad (India, 1997), The Dreams of Tipu Sultan; Mbongeni Ngema, Percy Mtwa and Barney Simon (South Africa, 1981), Woza Albert!; Wole Soyinka (Nigeria, 1975), Death and the King’s Horseman ; Guillermo Verdecchia (Canada, 1993), Fronteras Americanas; and Andrew Whaley (Zimbabwe, 1991), The Rise and Shine of Comrade Fiasco