This week the Department of English & Film hosted a talk by Cornell University’s Mukoma Wa Ngugi on the subject of his latest book, The Rise of the African Novel (2018). Mukoma talked about the historical exclusion of African authors who don’t write in English and the cultural costs of assuming that English is the language of aesthetic writing. As a result of this assumption, there is an incomplete archive of literary works written in African languages.
Mukoma in conversation with Dr Kate Wallis, Lecturer in Global and World Literatures
The English programme at Exeter has seen several new modules offered in the last few years so that students can study a wide range of world literature on their degree. Second-year undergraduates can take Culture, Crisis and Ecology in a Postcolonial World, which introduces students to how texts from around the globe inscribe the social, historical and environmental impact of colonialism and new forms of imperialism. In the final year students can choose Acts of Writing: From Decolonisation to Globalisation as well as specialist options such as:
- India Uncovered: Representations in Film and Fiction (this module investigates how filmic and fictional texts articulate the legacy of India’s colonial past, its postcolonial present, and diasporic experiences)
- Resource Fictions: Oil, Water and Conflict in the World-System (considering theories of world literature, postcolonial ecocriticism and world-ecology, this module invites students to examine contemporary hydro- and petro-fictions across film, poetry, and the novel)
- Encountering the Other in Medieval Literature (this module explores cross-cultural encounters and focuses on the literature of the twelfth through fifteenth centuries)
- African Narratives (which introduces students to the range and dynamism of narratives produced by African authors from 1960 to today, including online fiction)
And if you are thinking about starting an MA in September, we offer a Pathway in World and Postcolonial Cultures on our MA English Literary Studies too!