Course info

Whilst it has a long and global history, the term 'decoloniality' was brought to the fore by the 2015 South African student movements known as the #RhodesMustFall protests, protests which also gained traction in other academic epicentres such as Oxford University in England. But how is 'decolonial' and 'decoloniality' different from postcolonial studies? What does decoloniality call for, and how is this catalysed in works of literature?

Nearly three decades after the end of apartheid in South Africa, contemporary South African literature simultaneously contends with its history of colonialism and racial segregation, as well as its present of continuing economic disparities. In this course, we look at a selection of South African poetry and speculative fiction. These works grapple with topics of land, sexuality, gender and race; they uncover the lasting effects of colonial, hegemonic and narrow understanding of what it means to be human; and they fight against the erasure of indigenous systems of knowledge. In doing so, these works of literature participate in and complicate the urgent cultural and political debates on decoloniality.

Indicative reading: Koleka Putuma, _Collective Amnesia; _Maneo Mohale, _Everything Is A Deathly Flower; _Mohale Mashigo, _The Intruders;
_Lauren Beukes, _Zoo City;_ Masande Ntshanga, _Triangulum._