Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean

This course provides students with an introductory survey of literature and cinema from Francophone Africa and the Caribbean in the 20th and 21st centuries. Students will be encouraged to consider the geographical, historical, and political connections between the Maghreb, the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa. This course will help students improve their ability to speak and write in French by introducing students to linguistic and conceptual tools to conduct literary and visual analysis. While analyzing novels and films, students will be exposed to a diverse number of topics such as national and cultural identity, race and class, gender and sexuality, orality and textuality, transnationalism and migration, colonialism and decolonization, history and memory, and the politics of language. Readings include the works of writers and filmmakers such as Aimé Césaire, Albert Memmi, Ousmane Sembène, Leïla Sebbar, Mariama Bâ, Maryse Condé, Dany Laferrière, Mati Diop, and special guest Léonora Miano. Taught in French. Students are encouraged to complete FRENLANG 124 or successfully test above this level through the Language Center.