EN311Z Non-Western World Literature: Apartheid and Post-Apartheid South African
Literature
Summer II, 2014 (WEB Course)
Dr. Jaspal K. Singh: jsingh@nmu.edu
Course Description:
In this English Literature course, students will examine apartheid legacy in a number of South
African texts in order to investigate characters grappling with the very difficult task of sculpting
national as well as personal identities in the apartheid and post-apartheid nation. Through
literature, we will examine various acts, such as the Population Registration, the Group Area,
the Bantu Homelands Citizenship, the Pass System, the Public Safety, the Criminal Law
Amendment, and so forth, to discuss their impact on South Africans (White, Blacks, Coloureds,
and Asians) identity formation. Course texts—Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the
Barbarians, Zakes Mda’s Ways of Dying, Alan Paton’s Too Late the Phalarope, Athol Fugard’s
Boesman and Lena, and Gobodo-Medikizela’s A Human Being Died That Night—deal with
resistance to apartheid policies through various strategies, ranging from student movements to
collective action by women, from violence, strikes, demonstrations, to sabotage, which were
met with severe penalties and imprisonment. This course is especially designed for students to
examine literary themes of violence, forgiveness, and reconciliation as South Africa transitioned
from an oppressive country into a democratic nation-state.
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Course Objectives:
To acquire a broad perspective of South African Literature and Culture in order to identify core
themes
and to examine cultural changes that occurred due to apartheid policies
To read critically a broad range of texts and to discuss the theoretical and critical framework
regarding historical, social, cultural approaches to the study of literature;
to discuss the impact
of political and economic systems on literature and culture
Course Preparedness:
As this is 300-level literature course, mastery of pre-requisite 200-level skills, such as spelling,
mechanics, grammar, paragraphing, punctuation, and essay writing are assumed. In this world
literature course, we will read texts and focus instead on critical analysis and interpretation of
literature rather than on remedial writing.
Note: On-line class activities will take place during Mondays through Wednesdays.
However, the forums will be open during the weekend, so you may work ahead. The
deadline for all work is 6:00 PM Wednesdays. The presentation papers must be posted by
12:00 noon on Mondays. You may begin work ahead, but you cannot fall behind without
losing points.
Note on EduCat: Along with assigned reading, you will be expected to conduct research,
participate in discussion, do written presentations, and post your responses online. These
activities should serve a purpose similar to in-class discussions. You can work ahead, but you
cannot fall behind without losing points. If you have questions regarding assignments, drop a
note in “Question for Singh” box. No direct email will be entertained. All of our interactions
for this course will be through EduCat, unless it is an emergency. If you cannot work
independently on the web, this might not be the right course for you.
Required Texts: Literature
J.M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians
Antjie Krog, Country of My Skull.
Zakes Mda, Ways of Dying
Alan Paton, Too Late the Phalarope
Athol Fugard, Boesman and Lena and The Train Driver
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Recommended Text:
Gobodo-Medikazila, A Human Being Died That Night
Theoretical Texts:
Ashcroft, et al., The Post-Colonial Studies Reader: The Key Concepts
Memmi, The Colonizer and the Colonized
Strongly recommended Films (These are available at your local libraries or video stores)
Cry, the Beloved Country
Cry, Freedom
Forgiveness
Sarafina
Amandla!
Long Night’s Journey Into Day
Drum
Place of Weeping
Disgrace
Course Requirements:
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
One mid-term paper (5 pages)
When assigned, one two-page Reading Presentation/Critical Analysis
Paper and Leading Discussion in Forum on Mondays
One-page Weekly Response/Discussion paper on Reading Presentation
Forums (start your own thread; first 3 not graded)
(20%)
When assigned, one two-Page Research Report/Critical analysis Paper
and Leading Discussion in Forum on Mondays
One-page Weekly Response Paper and Discussion on the Research
Presentation Forums (start your own thread; first 3 not graded)
Final paper (5 pages)
(20%)
(10%)
(10%)
(20%)
(20%)
There will be no final exam in this class, as the testing will be spread throughout the term in the
form of response papers, reports and interpretive essays. Written work you submit for this class
should be double-spaced. All work should be set in a 12 point font, and have one-inch margins
all around; please make sure to put your name and course information in the upper-left corner.
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Policies:
 More than two unexcused missed assignments will significantly impact your grade.
After the third missed assignment, your grade will drop down one letter grade. After
the fourth, you will get an F for the course. This policy is strictly enforced.
 Assignments are due on due dates.
 Late papers will be not by accepted. If extension is needed, you must ask one week
before the due date. Extension requested on the due date will impact your grade.
 All papers and essays must be in 12 font size and double-spaced.
 All work submitted in this course must be your own and written exclusively for this
course. The use of sources such as ideas, quotations, or paraphrases must be properly
documented in the MLA style. Please consult your student handbook for a definition
of plagiarism and information on documentation. From the NMU Student
Handbook, Student Code (section 2.2.3): “No student shall submit as their own to an
instructor any work which contains ideas or materials taken from another without full
acknowledgement of the author and source.”
Grade Conversion Chart
A
AB+
4.0
3.7
3.3
100
100
92.5
82.5
80
80
74
66
60
60
55.5
49.5
40
40
37
33
20
20
18.5
16.5
10
10
9.25
8.25
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
3.0
2.7
2.3
2.0
1.7
1.3
1.0
.7
0
75
67.5
57.5
50
42.5
32.5
25
17.5
0
60
54
46
40
34
26
20
14
0
45
40.5
34.5
30
25.5
19.5
15
10.5
0
30
27
23
20
17
13
10
7
0
15
13.5
11.5
10
8.5
6.5
5
3.5
0
7.5
6.75
5.75
5
4.25
3.25
2.5
1.75
0
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
DISABILITY SERVICES
If you have a need for disability-related accommodations or services, please inform the
Coordinator of Disability Services in the Disability Services Office at 2001 C. B. Hedgecock
(227-1700; TTY 227-1543). Reasonable and effective accommodations and services will be
provided to students if requests are made in a timely manner, with appropriate documentation, in
accordance with federal, state and University guidelines.
Assignments descriptions:
Papers: Interpretive/Critical Analysis Paper: You must write two argumentative, persuasive,
analytical and interpretive papers for this course on one of the fictional texts. Yes, all the
aforementioned components must be present in your papers to make them successful. In other
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words, the claim you make must be something your audience might have a differing opinion on.
If your audience agrees with your claim, then there is really no further need for persuasion.
Therefore, have a claim or thesis that you are excited about which you will prove with textual
examples and analysis. Remember, the narrower the claim, the stronger the paper. What one
claim or thesis are you making about the fictional text that you support with textual example and
analysis? Is your thesis or claim a debatable one? Do you consider an opposing interpretation?
Do your body paragraphs avoid mere plot summary by combining your analysis with textual
examples and evidence? What images, actions, words, or contexts help clarify your stance or
critical interpretations? Have you added quotations from the texts? Do you conclude your paper
convincingly?
Most importantly, are you using postcolonial theory provided by The Key Concepts and
Memmi’s The Colonizer and the Colonized in the critical analysis of the novel or play? What
does your discussion have to do with colonial/apartheid representation and assumptions in these
fictional representations? What changes occur in colonized cultural spaces due to
colonialism/apartheid and how do the colonized resist or internalize colonial construction of
them as “lack” or “excess” (Jacque Lacan)? What changes occur in the colonized psyches,
which are then reflected in the colonial landscape? How, then, do the colonized resist
colonialism during nationalist movements? What tools do they use? Do they have a “new”
“hybrid” language in which to resist? Examine ideas of European modernity—education,
technology, language, and so forth—and its impact on traditional African culture and mores in
order to discuss conflicts produced in the colonial and postcolonial subject. How are ideas of
race, gender, class, and sexuality impacted by the “mythical portrait” (Memmi) of the colonized?
In order to conduct postcolonial analysis, you must try to uncover colonialist biases in the
representations or lack of representations of Black characters in colonialists texts. How do those
who belong to the colonizers’ group construct their own identities vis-à-vis the colonized? Are
white writers able to “bracket the values and biases of imperialist culture” (JanMohammed) in
their representations of “Self” and “Other”? How do Black South Africans tackle issues of
reconciliation and reconstruction in the new nation? Do the “mythical” portraits of the colonized
continue to haunt literary representations and cultural production in postcolonial/post-apartheid
South Africa? Keep your peers’ presentations, responses, reports, and discussion in mind while
writing the papers.
Your own critical ideas and informed analyses add persuasive power to your writing. You may
use one (fictional) text, or themes from various texts, but your thesis idea must be firmly
grounded in course books. Use your presentation papers, response papers, research report, and
class discussion for locating ideas. Each paper requires substantial direct and indirect quotations
from course texts; however, these quotes must be examined and further analyzed. Use MLA
style for documentation. Conduct outside research for secondary sources for stronger papers, but
your research should not become your entire paper. It should simply inform your literary
analysis. Out of context or a-historical, a-social, a-cultural, and a-political papers will be
considered weak! However, this does not mean you write only on historical or social issues; you
must use those contexts to inform your assertions and concerns about the FICTIONAL texts that
you examine.
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Please drop your papers in the appropriate Student Discussion Forums or Assignment
Drop Box.
Presentation/Leading Discussion: Each student will be assigned to lead discussion on specific
days once a term. I have already posted your names to the assignments, which appear in
alphabetical order. See below. Post by 12:00 noon Mondays to facilitate discussion. There
are no presentations on the first week of class. You will post a two double-spaced page paper
(along with two discussion questions) on the assigned reading in the Discussion Forum. You
must direct questions to the class to facilitate a discussion. Read the assigned text and provide a
critical analysis of the reading. Research the author’s background; a geographical map of the
author’s country of origin, and the setting of the story would be useful. Provide a critical
framework for you analysis by using ideas from Memmi’s text and from The Key Concepts. A
short summary, plus a longer analysis, is needed. Students will use your questions for discussion
that week in the Response Paper/Discussion section. I will grade your presentation by evaluating
how well your questions lead to discussion as well as by the content of your paper. One page
response paper required for presenters in the Response Paper Discussion Forum so you can get
the point for participation (Really, it is just a formality so that I can post the grades in your grade
book).
Note: For those who are presenting the first two weeks, I will be lenient in grading; if you
absolutely cannot be the first to present, let me know and I will reschedule you. However, I do
urge you to stay with the schedule and give it your best shot. Please post by 12:00 noon on
Monday in order to facilitate discussion.
Research Report/Critical Analysis: I have already assigned you a topic and a date. Here, I
have reversed the alphabetical order. See Below. Your deadline to post is by 12:00 noon
Mondays in order to facilitate discussion. There will be no presentations the first week of
class. Research and analyze an aspect of South Africa history and culture and present a two page
double spaced report to class. Write questions to felicitate class discussion. I will grade the
report on how well you have researched the topic, but more importantly, on how well you
incorporate your own ideas for analysis. Use the research to add comments about course texts.
How are some of the historical and cultural aspects represented in literature and the cultural
media? How do some of the apartheid laws impact identity formation of South Africans? How
do characters in our texts resist some of colonial/apartheid impositions of certain unjust laws?
Provide a short bibliography of your sources and write a few paragraphs about how you found
them useful in understanding the texts or their themes. This report must be two pages in length,
and can include research links, short documentaries, clips, music, and so forth. Research Report
will start from the second week onward.
Note: For those who are presenting the first two weeks, I will be lenient in grading; if you
absolutely cannot be the first to present, let me know and I will reschedule you. However, I urge
you to stay with the schedule and give it your best shot. Please post as early as possible to
encourage discussion.
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Response Paper and Participation on the Presentation (two separate forums on the
Reading AND Research presentations) in Discussion Forums: Due, from third week
onwards, on Wednesdays at 11:55 pm. You must participate in the Discussion Forums by
writing a one-page response paper on one of the Presentation questions or by creating one of
your own. Start your own thread on the Response Paper Discussion Forum. What part of the
assigned reading did you find most compelling and why? Remember to locate the purpose of the
reading, the key points, the author’s assumptions and conclusion and so forth in your discussion.
Only summaries are unacceptable. In other words, do not re-tell the story; instead, discuss key
points—the purpose, the main points, the main assumptions, the conclusion— in both the
original text and your peers’ presentations by providing your critical interpretation of them. The
discussion should imitate in-class discussion, so you will question, elaborate, comment on the
assigned reading as well as the presentation paper. As each of you will conduct a presentation on
the assigned reading and as part of your grades are based on discussion, do have an energized
discussion here. Use the guidelines for Critical Response Paper handout that is posted in the
Educat Course Notes for your responses. You will receive a point each for all your response
papers. Remember to write the title of the assigned reading and the date on the papers.
Summarize briefly and then provide critical and thoughtful responses to the readings. The
papers will be accessible to the class as a whole so that they can read and then comment on in
their own posts. Write one discussion question at the end of your paper. I will check to see if you
are doing these correctly, but will not post comments, unless you do them incorrectly, in which
case you will hear from me. These imitate check/no check marks on in-class assignments.
Course Technology Notes: The assignment descriptions will include references to
various EduCat functions. In particular, I will be using:
1. Assignment Dropbox: This is for the submission for all your assignments. The
specific deadlines appear in the schedule and also in the Dropbox. To submit a file, make sure
the name of your file includes your name, date, and assignment (Response One and so
forth) on the left hand top corner of the page, then open the Dropbox for the unit and follow
instructions.
2. Student Discussion Forum: Here you will find numerous Student Discussion Forums
with titles for specific assignments. This is an important part of the course, as it takes the place
of in-class discussion. You will want to check often for messages and read them and comment
on them to push the discussion along.
Tentative Course Schedule
Week One
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Note: There will be no presentations during the first week.
26-28 August: Course overview and introduction: please introduce each other. Post
introductions on Student Discussion Forum; tell us a little about yourself, your academic
interests, your hobbies, where you are from, why you are interested in South African literature,
your travels, your family, your community, your pets, and cultural background. Tell us
something unique about yourself! What do you know about South Africa and what do you
expect to learn in this course?
Read the syllabus carefully and post questions or comments regarding assignments
Week Two
September 2: Labor Day
3-4 September
Assigned Reading:
Memmi, The Colonizer and the Colonized, “Preface” and “Introduction,” pages v11-xxix
Alan Paton, Too Late the Phalarope, pages 9-81
The Postcolonial Studies: Key Concepts (PSKC), “Colonialism,” 40-44 “Orientalism,” 153-154
Presentation by: Kyle Annelin
Research Topic: Jan Van Reibeek; The Anglo-Boer Wars; South African Act, 1909
Presentation by: Crystal Branson and John Flitton
Week Three
9- 11 September
Assigned Reading:
The Colonizer and the Colonized, “Does the Colonial Exist?” pages 3-44
PSKC, pages “Exploration and Travel,” 88-91; “Other,” 154-156; “Othering,” 156-158
Too Late the Phalarope, 82-177
Presentation by: Robert Carlson and Eric Durand
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Research Topic: Native Land Act, 1913
Presented by: Jenna Talcott and Alysa Spivak
Week Four
16-18 September
The Colonizer and the Colonized, “The Colonizer who Accepts,” pages 45-76
Too Late the Phalarope, Pages 177-end
PSKC, “Colonial Desire,” 36-37; “Cultural Patronage, “ pages 38-40
Presentation by: Korey Hokenson and Derek Houser
Research Topic: Immorality Act, 1927; Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act
(1949)
Immorality Amendment Act (1950)
Presentation by: Nicole Rodgers
Week Five
23-25 September
Assigned Reading:
Waiting for the Barbarians, pages 1-56
The Colonizer and the Colonized, “Mythical Portrait of the Colonized,” 80-118
PSKC, “”Settler Colony,” 193-194 “Colonial Discourse,” 36-38
Presentation by: Debbie Kiefer and Kristen Koehler
Research Topic: The Mines and Works Act (Colour Bar Act) No 25 of 1926
Presentation by: John Parent and Briana Ormson
Week Six
30 September-2 October
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Assigned Reading:
Waiting for the Barbarians, 57-end
Memmi, The Colonizer and the Colonized, “The Two Answers of the Colonized,” 119-171
PSKC, “Race,” 180-187 “Savage/Civilized” 191-192
Presentation by: Victoria Arnold and Marcus Lee
Research Topic: Hendrick Verwoerd, 1948-1966; Population Registration Act (1950)
Group
Areas Act (1950)
Presentation by: Brittany Nicholas and Shannon Meyers
Week Seven
7-9 October
Assigned Reading:
Boesman and Lena, pages 1-57
PSKC, “Empire,” 70-71 “Apartheid,” 14-15, “Contrapuntal reading,” 49, “Manicheanism,” 119120
Presentation by: Heather Marshall and Alyson Matkovich
Research Topic: The Native Service Contracts Act of 1932; The Native Trust and Land Act of
1936
Presented by: Joshua McLaughlin and Rebecca Munch
Week Eight
14-16 October
Assigned Reading:
Ways of Dying, 7-98
PSKC, “Modernity,” 130-132 “Center/margin (periphery)” 32-33 and “modernism and postcolonialism,” 129-130
Presented by: Joshua Mclaughlin and Shannon Meyers
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Research Topic: Suppression of Communism Act, Act No 44 of 1950
Presented by: Alyson Matkovich and Katie Tinney
Week Nine
21-23 October
MIDTERM PAPER DUE
Assigned Reading:
Ways of Dying, 98-end
PSKC, “Post-Colonialism/Postcolonialism,” 168-173 “Post-Colonial Reading,” 173-174
“Post-colonial state,” 174-175
Presentation by: Brittany Nicholas and Briana Ormson
Research Topic: Pass Law Act, 1952
Presentation by: Heather Marshall and Emily Swajanen
Week Ten
28-30 October
Assigned Reading:
Country of my Skull, 3-99
PSKC, and “nation/nationalism,” 134-139 “National Liberation Movements” 141-143
Presentation by: John Parent
Research Topic: Sharpeville Massacre, 1960; Rivonia Trial; Umkhonto we
Siswe
Presentation by: Marcus Lee and Victoria Arnold
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Week Eleven
4-6 November
Assigned Reading
Country of my Skull, 100-200
PSKC, “Fanonism,” 91-93 “Nation Language,” 133-134 “Negritude,” 144-145
Presentation by: Nicole Rodgers and Alysa Spivak
Research Topic: The Bantu Authorities Act, Act No 68 of 1951; Bantu Education Act of 1953
Presentation by: Kristen Koehler and Debbie Kiefer
Week Twelve
11-13 November
Assigned Reading: Country of my Skull, 201-317
PSKC, “Contact Zone,” 48-49 “Decolonization,” 56-57 and “Anti-Colonialism,” 11-14
Presentation by: Jenna Talcott and Katie Tinney
Research Topic: Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (1953);
Natives Resettlement Act
(1954)
Presentation by: Derek Houser and Korey Hokenson
Week Thirteen
18-20 November
Assigned Reading:
Country of my Skull, 318-end
PSKC, “Eurocentricism,” 84-85 “Hegemony,” 106-108 “Missions and Colonialism,” 128-129
Presentation by: Crystal Branson and Emily Swajanen
Research Topic: Group Areas Development Act (1955); Treason Trial, 1957
Presentation by: Eric Durand and Robert Carlson
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Week Fourteen
25-26 November
27 November: Thanksgiving Holiday
Assigned Reading:
The Train Driver, 1-67
PSKC, “agency,” “Cultural Tourism,” “Globalization”
Presentation by: John Flitton and Rebecca Munch
Research Topic: Freedom Charter; Nelson Mandela and his presidency; Role of Desmond TuTu
in South African culture and politics; AIDS/HIV in South Africa
Presentation by: Kyle Annelin and Crystal Branson
Week Fifteen
December 2
FINAL PAPER DUE
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