| Description |
Course description
Whose names first come to your mind when you think of English literature and culture? Is it Shakespeare, Sterne or Swift? What might these writers have in common other than being male (and dead)? Certainly, these authors made significant contributions to the English literary canon. What they also share, however, is not only their gender but also their skin colour. 'So what', you might ask? One of the reasons we should care is that the canonical and much-studied works of these and other white male authors, as Osborne points out, continue to determine ”what ‘greatness’ and ‘literature’ mean, and ultimately what ‘Britishness’ means” (Osborne 2017: 3).
In this class, therefore, we will turn to a still largely neglected corpus written not just by female but by Black British authors in particular. We will start with Zadie Smith’s award-winning debut novel White Teeth (2000) that revolves around two wartime friends, one Bangladeshi and the other English, and their lives in the mid-1970s in London. We will then continue to discuss Bernadine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other (2019) that traces 12 different characters whose lives are all connected to one another. The novel’s themes range from racism, sexism to sexuality and gender, thus offering itself for an intersectional approach to Black British literature. Last but not least, we will also undertake a brief excursion into the field of Black British cinema (tba).
Key terms: Black British literature and culture, black feminism, race, gender, intersectionality
IMPORTANT: Since this class will be conducted IN PERSON, places are limited due to room restrictions. As a result, it is first-come, first-served. Those who do not show up at the first session will free up their space(s) again in favour of their fellow students on the waiting list. Please consider this BEFORE signing up and commit to this class once you do! [room capacity: 24]
Primary texts (please buy and read):*
Smith, Zadie. White Teeth. London: Penguin, 2000. ISBN-10: 0140297782.
Evaristo, Bernadine. Girl, Woman, Other. London: Penguin, 2020. ISBN-10: 0241984998
*Exact editions, please, so we can work with the same page numbers! Please refrain from asking me about eBooks or other editions. While you can also use other versions, you might struggle to find the discussed sections in class, so it is entirely your decision. There definitely are multiple and cheap second-hand editions available on the usual larger online platforms from only 8€ upwards (I checked!), so please order *NOW* and also start reading *ASAP* to avoid heavy backlog during the semester. Do not underestimate the primary texts' length (please check yourself) and consider that you will also have to read additional secondary texts, so I strongly recommend starting now.
Secondary texts (provided): tba.
Please note: You must have thoroughly read all assigned primary and secondary texts (tba) for each session in order to successfully participate in this class.
Films (provided): tba |
