POSTCOLONIAL SOCIETY AND CULTURES

The course is part of the Core educational activities [B] of the literature and culture and of the international politics curricula of the Bachelor's Degree Programme in
Language, Civilisation and the Science of Language

Students will be provided with a general overview of the main themes, concepts, and debates in contemporary postcolonial studies, with specific reference to literature and migration. They will acquire a basic knowledge and understanding of postcolonial theory and its specialized language. They will be able to apply selected concepts, terms, and perspectives to literary and other cultural texts. They will be invited to develop independent thinking and judgment and will be encouraged to improve their communication skills in relation to the issues at stake. The final objective will be to enable students to address migration (and more generally postcolonial) literary texts from a theoretical perspective in a largely self-directed or autonomous manner, and to have a better understanding of the importance of migration in today's world.

Advanced reading, speaking and writing knowledge of English

BORNE ACROSS THE WORLD: POSTCOLONIAL CROSSINGS IN SALMAN RUSHDIE AND YVONNE ADHIAMBO OWUOR We will be reading two very rich and spellbinding novels that chart the migrations of ordinary (and yet very special) individuals across continents, oceans, cultures, and languages. *The Satanic Verses*, one of the most important novels of the 20th century, will be also discussed in reference to the vicious life-threatening attack suffered by his author Salman Rushdie on August 12, 2022 and to the controversy sparked by its publication in 1988. But we will mostly concentrate on its powerful and often neglected literary aspects, exploring the ways in which the extraordinary trajectories of two Indian migrants to London are relevant to understand all migrations and the exploration of our own cultural and religious identities. In the new millenium *The Dragonfly Sea* by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor opens on the shores of Kenya to narrate the perilous journeys of a young woman across the Indian ocean to China and Turkey. These two global novels represent the lingering impact of British colonial and imperial history on our world, becoming an extended commentary on Rushdie’s remark: “Having been borne across the world, we are translated men. It is normally supposed that something always gets lost in translation; I cling, obstinately, to the notion that something can also be gained.” We will then explore what gets lost and what is gained in the translated lives of very special characters, women and men, on the background of an increasingly globalized and divided world, examining experiences that may also tell us something about ourselves, whether we have been migrant ourselves or have spent our whole lives in the same place. We are going to work in groups to understand what it means, in an age where the consumption of culture privileges shorter and faster forms, to read very long and linguistically innovative novels, musing on our relationship with others and with time.

Primary Texts: Salman Rushdie, THE SATANIC VERSES, Random House, 2008.
Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, THE DRAGONFLY SEA, Vintage, 2020.

Additional essays and a bibliography of suggested readings will be made available on the Moodle Page.

Attending students will be asked to join reading groups, meeting regularly (in person or online) to discuss the novels. Their final mark will be based on a continuous assessment system based on three group assignments and a 90-minute final individual written exam where two key passages (one for each novel) will have to be commented and a general question will have to be answered.
Non-attending students will be required to write a final research paper (12.000-20.000 characters) based on a list of given topics and obligatory additional readings that will be made available on the Moodle page.

Lectures, class discussion, online activities. Students are required to attend regularly and to complete the assigned readings before each class.

English

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development