This course explores the emergence of freedom as an ideal in Africa during and after the movements for national liberation. We will examine the people’s ongoing struggle to achieve social justice after colonial independence as a quest for meaningful freedom. To understand the emergence of this ideal and the nature of the people’s struggle, we will consider complex narratives (film, fiction) of major importance and read social theory (history, economics, sociology). The seminar’s scope is pan-African and covers the historical period of the 1950s to the present day. Areas of particular narrative interest include introspective gaze and intimate self, gender dynamics, national experience, globalization, and spirituality.
The Meaning of Freedom in Africa
Spring 2018
Required Reading
Armah, Ayi Kwei. Fragments. Heinemann, 1995. ISBN: 978-0435901547. or Per Ankh edition, 2006. ISBN: 978-2911928109. Either edition will work.
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Purple Hibiscus: A Novel. Algonquin Books; reprint 2012. ISBN: 978-1616202415.
Tansi, Sony Labou. Life and a Half: A Novel. Indiana UP, 2011. ISBN: 978-0253222879.
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Penguin, 1994. ISBN: 978-0385474542.
Other readings will be uploaded to Box@UA the link of which will be shared with registered students.
Meet Your Instructor
PHYLLIS TAOUA is Professor of French and Francophone Studies and is affiliated with Africana Studies, the Honors College, the Human Rights Program and the World Literature Program. She teaches courses on African literature and cinema, Critical Theory, and Pan-African Protest Movements. Author of two books and dozens of articles, she is the recipient of the Sheila Biddle Ford Foundation award and is Resident Fellow at the Du Bois Institute at Harvard.
Location
POETRY CENTER
Dorothy Rubel Room
1508 E Helen
Tucson, AZ 85721
United States
Located on the SE corner of Helen Street and Vine Avenue, one block north of Speedway and three blocks west of Campbell Ave.
