Subject: FW: postcolonial courses on offer
Date: Fri, 03 Nov 95 10:36:00 PST






While the reading list included in the posting below is certainly useful, it 
comes across as a rechristening of what used to be referred to as 'Third 
World Literatures' .  This appears to give some credence to  a quote from 
the Cuban-American critic Roman de la Campa (quoted by Aijaz Ahmad in his 
Race and Class article) to the effect that postcoloniality could very well 
turn out to  "...........    be postmodernism's wedge to 
(post/neo?)-colonise literatures outside Europe and its North American 
offshoots",  which Ahmad interprets as leading to a shift in the governing 
theoretical framework from third world nationalism to a transnational 
postmodernism.  The transition in itself may not be bad idea except for the 
sad fact that the nationalist project is an interrupted and unfinished 
business in most third world nation states and that it comes in the wake of 
the globalization rhetoric of multi/trans-national capitalism and the 
Bank-Fund structural adjusters.

Ahmad also draws attention to the fact that some of the early debates on 
poco took place in Political Science  (early 70's) in which the focus was on 
the post -colonial state and the current literary poco does not seem to 
exhibit any memory of that debate .

Here are some references in this context:

1. Culture, Nationalism, and the Role of Intellectuals: An Interview with 
Aijaz Ahmad, Monthly Review, Vol.47, NO.3, July-August 1995.

2. Terry Eagleton, Where do Postmodernists Come From?, Monthly Review, 
Vol.47, No.3, July-August 1995.

3. Ahmad, Aijaz, In Theory : Classes, Nations, and Literatures, Verso 1992
4. Ahmad, Aijaz, The Politics of Literary Postcoloniality, Race and Class, 
36(3), 1995.

5. Alavi, Hamza, The State in Post-Colonial Societies : Pakistan and 
Bangladesh, New Left Review, No.74, July-August, 1972.

 -Joseph Davis
  The University of Auckland

Jean Jonassaint, Samir Dayal, Jaspal Singh, and Deepika Bahri:  the
following is the list of required texts from my Postcolonial Novel
course.  To those of you who sent me your address, I will send the
complete syllabus.  The first eight novels on the list are required for
all students in the class.  Students choose from among the final three
for their papers.
Chinua Achebe, ANTHILLS OF THE SAVANNAH
Julia Alvarez, IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES
Miguel Angel Asturias, EL SENOR PRESIDENTE
Jose Y. Dalisay, SARCOPHAGUS AND OTHER STORIES
Carlos Fuentes, THE DEATH OF ARTEMIO CRUZ
Buchi Emecheta, THE JOYS OF MOTHERHOOD
Jessica Hagedorn, DOGEATERS
Ngugi Wa Thiong'O, WEEP NOT, CHILD
Ama Ata Aidoo, LOVE STORY
Bienvenido N. Santos, WHAT THE HELL FOR YOU LEFT YOUR HEART IN SAN
   FRANCISCO
Claribel Alegria, ASHES OF IZALCO
As you can discern from the list, I focus on Mexico and Central
America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and The Philippines.  My reasons for doing
so are that these are areas with which I have some familiarity and
because we have historians with specialties in these areas who are my
resources.



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