Introduction to Post-Colonial Studies

This course surveys literatures written in English from South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. In doing so it asks what unites the diverse literatures gathered under the rubric "postcolonial". Is postcolonial simply a descriptive category, or does it suggest an oppositional or troubled stance towards colonialism and modernity? To consider this question we will take up major issues and debates within postcolonial studies, namely: nationalism and nativism, subalternity, feminism, development, and globalization. Throughout we will be concerned with questions of identity formation, representation, and literary form.