Seminar

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 5652

In this course, we'll explore literary networks created by African and Black diasporic poets as they connect, write, and move across the globe. In literary and cultural studies, the idea of diaspora has gained significant recognition. Some proponents of diaspora see it as a versatile framework for understanding transnational migrations and cultural impacts that aren't bound by restrictive nation-based frameworks. However, other scholars are concerned that it may elude the political and historical frameworks offered to us by nation-based and ethnic-studies scholarship. We will critically engage with both of these discourses by focusing on the works of poets from Africa and the diaspora, such as Suzanne and Aime Césaire, John Pepper Clark, Audre Lorde, Derek Walcott, Kofi Awooner, and Linton Kwesi Johnson. To deepen our understanding of global poetics, diaspora, postcolonialism, and transnationalism, we'll study the writings of scholars like Édouard Glissant, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, and Jahan Ramazani. Throughout, we will aim to discern how these poets have constructed a network of poetic practices that transcended boundaries and influenced literary culture.
Course Attributes:

Section 01

Seminar
INSTRUCTOR: Adwetewa-Badu
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