Rethinking Francophone Literature in the 21st Century

This course is a critical examination of literature from the Francophone world of the 20th and 21st centuries. Students will travel through time and space with a selection of novels, poems, essays, and short stories. In this historical and cultural journey through Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, the Caribbean, Canada, Vietnam and Mauritius, our objective will be to provide a reassessment of what Francophone studies mean in the 21st century. Topics discussed in the course will include race and representation, national and cultural identity, immigration and nationalism, transnationalism and diaspora, "littérature-monde," the politics of language, postcolonialism and universalism. Readings will include the works of Dani Laferrière, Bessora, Ken Bugul, Alain Mabanckou, Kim Thúy, Ananda Devi, Abdourahman Waberi, Véronique Tadjo and Abdelkebir Khatibi. Taught in French.