LFU:online

The aim of this course is to familiarise students with key concepts of postcolonial theory for the analysis of Achebe's post-European perspective. How did Achebe write 'back to the centre' and in which ways did he challenge the colonial paradigm?

'Cultural Wealth in Chinua Achebe's Writings' will commemorate Chinua Achebe and his writings:  in his novels, poems, essays, and short stories Achebe sought to reclaim the continent from Western literature. He had always felt that it had been reduced to a land devoid of culture, art, and tradition, taking particular exception to Conrad's Heart of Darkness, which had relegated "Africa to the role of props for the breakup of one petty European mind" (in "An Image of Africa"). The course will try to identify the aspect of 'cultural wealth' in Achebe's writings and find out in which ways he criticised 'modern' African dictatorships.

lecture, group discussions, presentations

written paper, presentation, discussion groups

Bhabha, Homi. Location of Culture. Routledge, 1994.
Castle, Gregory, ed. Postcolonial Discourses: An Anthology. Blackwell, 2000.
Döring, Tobias. Postcolonial Literatures in English. UNI-WISSEN Anglistik/Amerikanistik.Klett, 2008.
Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. Trans. Constance Farrington. Grove Weidenfeld, 1963.
McLeod, John. Beginning Postcolonialism. Manchester UP, 2000.
Morrison, Jago. The Fiction of Chinua Achebe. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009
Said, Edward. Orientalism. 1978. Penguin, 1985.
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Can the Subaltern Speak?” Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. Ed. Cary Nelson, and Lawrence Grossberg. Illinois UP, 1988. pp. 271-313.
Ure Mezu, Rose. Chinua Achebe: The Man and His Works. Black Academy Press, 2006.
Whittaker, David, and Mpalive Hangson-Msiska. Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: A Routledge Study Guide. Routledge, 2007.

BA 2015: positive completion of compulsory module 10

Teacher Training Programme BA 2015: positive completion of compulsory module 13

Due to substantial differences in the allocation of ECTS-Credits in various curricula (teacher training program - BA/MA English and American Studies), the requirements for this course vary. Information will be provided by the instructor at the beginning of the course