Love and Death in Africa's Cities

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• how notions of ‘Africa’ may be related to notions of ‘modernity’.
• a selection of African urban histories and the discursive formations they have generated, and
• the range and complexity of Africa’s city texts;
• the social contexts and historical backgrounds of the primary texts on the module;

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:write confidently and clearly in response to complex texts and debates;
• research unfamiliar texts and contexts;
• develop reading strategies appropriate to Africa’s texts and genres.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• respond with understanding and tact to non-European cultural standpoints.
• deploy a clear and legible writing style;
• formulate reasoned arguments and opinions;
• engage in cross-cultural dialogue, and

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• compare contemporary urban texts and contexts; and
• analyse fictional methods of constructing social space;
• construct original arguments related to the thinking and imagination of others;
• understand key debates related to African city lives and city writings.

The module will introduce you to a range of canonical and popular narrative texts and genres related to cities in all the regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Classroom discussions of how these literary and filmic texts frame and construct the concepts of love and death will be organised around five key areas of literary and theoretical debate, to do with space, modernity, nation, gender and resistance.

Teaching and learning methods

• Lectures
• Seminars involving group work, plenary debate, short written exercises and individual presentations
• Private study (including library research accessing and evaluating appropriate online resources)
• Guidance and feedback sessions on assignments
• Essay writing

This module includes a Learning Support Hour. This is a flexible weekly contact hour, designed to support and respond to the particular cohort taking the module from year to year. This hour will include (but not be limited to) activities such as language, theory and research skills classes; group work supervisions; assignment preparation and essay writing guidance; assignment consultations; feedback and feed-forward sessions.

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Geschiere, Peter, et al (eds) (2008). Modernity in Africa. Oxford: James Currey.

Barber, Karin (2007). The Anthropology of Texts, Persons and Publics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Nuttall, Sarah (2009). Entanglement. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.

Paton, Alan (1948). Cry Beloved Country.

Appiah, Anthony (2006). Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers. London: Penguin.

Aidoo, Ama Ata (1991). Changes: A Love Story.

Vera, Yvonne (1998). Butterfly Burning.

wa Ngugi, Mukoma (2009). Nairobi Heat.

Abani, Chris (2004). Graceland.

Mtobwa, Ben (1971). Dar es Salaam by Night.

Robinson, Jenny (2006). Ordinary Cities. London: Routledge.

Primorac, Ranka (ed) (2010). African City Textualities. London: Routledge.

Soyinka, Wole (1972). The Interpreters.

Lefebvre, Henry (1996). Writings on Cities. Oxford: Blackwell.

Mpe, Pashwane (2001). Welcome to our Hillbrow.

Mbembe, Achille (2001). On the Postcolony. Berkeley: University of California Press,.

Newell, Stephanie (ed) (2002). Readings in African Popular Fiction. Oxford: James Currey.

Mabanckou, Alain (2003). African Psycho.

Banda-Aaku, Ellen (2011). Patchwork.

Taylor, Charles (2004). Modern Social Imaginaries. Durham: Duke University Press.

Assessment strategy

The first essay will ask you to write about a specific aspect of the narrative construction of space in a single novel on the module. The second essay will be on a topic asking you to compare two novels on the module.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External