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Syllabus Postcolonial Theory
Syllabus Postcolonial Theory
POSTCOLONIAL THEORY
The course will introduce students to discussions about the experiences of various
historical and contemporary realities that form the complex of post-colonial thinking. It
engages post-colonialism as a continuing process of reconstruction and resistance. It is
impossible to examine the post-colonial without taking into account its antecedents and
its consequences. And a significant portion of the course will deal with both. The course
considers European colonialism as an “historical fact” that has produced diverse material
effects everywhere. The imperial force of Europe continues to intrude everywhere, as
does the legacy of colonialism in Europe and European settler societies. So post-colonial
theory has universal global applications that the course will examine. The course will
engage with theories of imperialism and neo-colonialism as aspects of post-colonial
thinking.
The course will proceed through engagement with selected readings on colonialism,
imperialism, neo-colonialism, anti-colonialism, and post-colonialism. The field is an
inter-disciplinary one that engages multiple analytical frameworks.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
4 Mid Term Examinations 40%
Summary Review Paper 25%
Final Examination 25%
Class Discussion 10%
Mid-Term
There will be four mid-term examinations. Each exam will count for 10 percent of the
grade. Two of the exams will be in-class essays that test familiarity with the reading and
two will be take home examinations that test capacity for critical reflection,
Final Examination
There will be a final examination covering the entire course.
Class Discussion
Students will be expected to contribute to class discussion. Fridays are reserved for
reviews and discussions of the week’s readings. Students will be graded on their
participation. Students will be called upon to contribute. Evidence that the week’s
readings have not been done will be used as a basis for deduction of discussion points.
January 6th.
I. Introduction to the Class
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January 10th
Class Discussion
January 13th
Reading
Robert C. Young. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Blackwell, 2001.
Chapter 1. “Colonialism and the Politics of Postclonial Critique”. Pp. 1–11
Chapter 5. “Postcolonialism”. Pp. 57-69.
January 15th
Reading:
Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. Eds. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial
Theory: A Reader Columbia University Press, 1994.
Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman “ Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: an
Introduction” pp. 1-20
Ch. 8. Aijaz Ahmed. “Orientalism and After.” Pp. 162-171.
January 17th
Discussion
January 20th
Martin Luther King Holiday
January 22nd.
Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. Eds. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial
Theory: A Reader Columbia University Press, 1994.
Part Four: Theorising Post-Coloniality: Intellectuals and Institutions:
“Introduction.” Pp. 271-275
Ch. 15. Vijay Mishra and Bob Hodge. “What is Post(-)colonialism? Pp. 276-290
January 24th
Discussion
January 27th
Reading
Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. Eds. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial
Theory: A Reader Columbia University Press, 1994.
Part One: “Theorising Colonised Cultures and Anti-Colonial Resistance”
“Introduction.” Pp.23-26
Ch. 2. Franz Fanon. “On National Culture”. Pp. 36-52
Ch. 5. Homi Bhabha. “Remembering Fanon: Self, Psyche, and the Colonial Condition.”
Pp. 112-123.
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January 29th
Reading
Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. Eds. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial
Theory: A Reader Columbia University Press, 1994.
Ch. 1. Leopold Sedar Senghor. “Negritude: A Humanism of the Twentieth Century”.
Pp. 27-36.
Ch. 3. Amilcar Cabral. “National Liberation and Culture”. Pp. 53-65
January 31st
First Exam in Class
February 5th
Reading
Robert C. Young. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Blackwell, 2001.
Ch. 14. “China, Egypt, Bandung.” Pp. 183-192.
Ch. 18. “Africa II. Nkrumah and Pan-Africanism.” Pp. 236-252.
February 7th
Discussion
February 12th
Reading
Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith. Eds. The Case Against the Global Economy.
Sierra Club Books. 1996.
Chapter 34. Satish Kumar. “Gandhi’s Swadeshi: The Economics of Permanence.” Pp.
418-424.
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(Robert C. Young. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Blackwell, 2001.
Ch. 23. “India II. Gandhi’s Counter-modernity.” Pp. 317-334.)
February 14
Class Discussion
February 17th
Reading
Arundhati Roy. Power Politics. 2nd. Ed. South End Press. 2001.
Ch. 1. “The Ladies Have Feelings, so…Shall we Leave it to the Experts?” pp. 1-34.
February 19thth
Reading
Percy C. Hintzen. “After Modernization: Globalization and the African Dilemma” in
Modernization as Spectacle in Africa_ Edited by Peter J. Bloom, Stephan F.
Miescher, and Takyiwaa Manuh. Indiana University Press, 2014 (Forthcoming).
February 21st
Second Exam. In Class
February 24th
Reading
Escape from Empire: The Developing World’s Journey through Heaven and Hell.
Alice H. Amsden Cambridge, MIT Press. 2009
Ch. 10. “The Devil Take the Hindmost.” Pp. 137-148
Ch. 11. “Great Balls of Fire” pp. 149-163.
February 28th
Class Discussion
March 3rd
Reading
Achille Mbembe. On the Postcolony. University of California Press, 2001
Ch. 1. “Of Commandment.” Pp. 24-65.
Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. Eds. The Post-Colonial Studies
Reader. 2nd Ed. Routledge: 2006.
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Achille Mbembe. Ch. 10. “The Intimacy of Tyranny”. Pp. 66-69.
March 7th
Discussion
March 10th
Spring Break (No Classes)
March 12th
Spring Break (No Classes)
March 14th
Spring Break (No Classes)
March 17thth
Reading
Dipesh Chakrabarty. Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical
Difference. Princeton University Press. 2000.
Introduction: “The Idea of Provincializing Europe.” Pp. 3-23.
Ch. 1. “Postcoloniality and the Artifice of History”. Pp. 27-46.
March 19th
Reading
Shalini Puri. The Caribbean Postcolonial: Social Equality, Post-Nationalism, and
Cultural Hybridity.” Palgrave, 2004
“Introduction.” pp. 1-16
Ch. 1. “Theorising Hybridity: The Post-Nationalist Moment.” Pp. 19-41.
March 21st
Third Exam: Take Home
March 24th
Reading
Aihwa Ong. Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality. Duke
Univ. Press. 1999.
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Introduction. “Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality.” Pp. 1-26.
March 26thth
Reading
Aihwa Ong. Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality. Duke
Univ. Press. 1999.
Ch. 1. “The Geopolitics of Cultural Knowledge”. Pp. 29 – 54
March 28th
Discussion
March 31st
Reading
Robert C. Young. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Blackwell, 2001.
Ch. 25. “Women, Gender and Anti-Colonialism”. Pp. 360-382.
April 2nd
Reading
Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. Eds. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial
Theory: A Reader Columbia University Press, 1994.
Ch. 11. Chandra Talpade Mohanty. “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and
Colonial Discourses.” Pp. 196-220.
April 4th
Class Discussion
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April 11th
Fourth Exam: Take Home
April 14th
Reading
Vandana Shiva. Earth Democracy. Southend Press 2005
Introduction “Principles of Earth Democracy.” Pp. 1-12
Ch. 1. “Living Economies.” Pp. 13-72.
April 16th
Reading
Immanuel Wallerstein, World Systems Analysis Duke University Press 2004
Ch 5: “The Modern World System in Crisis”. Pp. 76-90
April 18th
Class Discussion.
Final Paper Due
April 23rd
Final Exam.