01:195:307 Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures and Theories
(Sample syllabus)
Spring 2009
M3Th3, MU 114
Professor Janet A. Walker
jwalk@rci.rutgers.edu
Office: Scott 238 Office hours: MW4
Office phone number: (732)932-7605
My mailbox is in the office of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, located
in Scott 330. You may leave papers there during normal business hours.
Comparative Literature website address: http://complit.rutgers.edu/
Learning goals
Core Curriculum Learning Goals Met by this Course:
I: 21st Century Challenges – (6 credits- 3 credits at 300 level or above) Students must meet 2
goals. [Core goals already certified]
a. Analyze the degree to which forms of human difference shape a person’s experiences of
and perspectives on the world.
b. Analyze a contemporary global issue from a multidisciplinary perspective.
d. Analyze issues of social justice across local and global contexts.
C: Arts and the Humanities (6 credits) Students must meet two goals.
o. Examine critically philosophical and other theoretical issues concerning the nature of
reality, human experience, knowledge, value, and/or cultural production.
p. Analyze arts and/or literatures in themselves and in relation to specific histories, values,
languages, cultures, and technologies.
Comparative Literature Learning Goals Met by this Course:
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Students will demonstrate familiarity with a variety of world literatures as well as
methods of studying literature and culture across national and linguistic boundaries and
evaluate the nature, function and value of literature from a global perspective.
Analyze a specific body of research and write a clear and well developed paper or
project about a topic related to more than one literary and cultural tradition.
Objectives
 Postcolonialism may be defined, following Robert Young, as the perspective provided by
theories that “analyze the material and epistemological conditions of postcoloniality and
seek to combat the continuing, often covert operation of an imperialist system of economic,
political and cultural domination.” Thus, postcolonial theories examine the postcolonial
condition in the period after decolonization as well as resist the continuing effects of
imperialism and colonialism on the affected countries.
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In this course we will examine the postcolonial condition by discussing major postcolonial
literary and filmic texts through the lens of postcolonial theories. We will treat texts from
Africa and India, two areas to which postcolonial theories are most often applied. But we
will also discuss a text from Indonesia, an area less often theorized in postcolonial studies;
and we will ask the question of how we might consider the postcolonial experience in a text
from the Philippines, which underwent more than one form of colonial domination, and
over a long period of time (1565-1946).
The course aims to develop the student’s capacity to think critically about postcolonialism in
a comparative framework. Particular issues that we will consider are postcolonial literature
as a strategy of resistance to colonialism, the negotiation of national identities at the
intersection of the local and the global, and concepts of hybridity, gender, and the subaltern
in the formation of colonial and postcolonial identities.
Readings will include: Sembène Ousmane—Xala (novel and film); Pramoedya Ananta Toer,
House of Glass; José Rizal, El Filibusterismo (Subversion); Mahasweta Devi, “Draupadi;” and
Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things. Theoretical texts will include parts of Ania Loomba,
Colonialism/Postcolonialism and a few essays from Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman,
ed., Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory and other sources.
By the end of the course students should have arrived at both a definition of postcolonialism
and how it is represented and interrogated in texts from several areas of the formerly
colonized world. Students should further have arrived at an understanding of how
postcolonialism interacts with identity, class, gender, and race in the formerly colonized
world. In terms of reading, students should have gained the tools to do a close reading of
literary texts and apply theories to them. In terms of writing, students should have acquired
the capacity to express their understanding of specific texts as postcolonial texts in several
short papers.
Explanation: The issue of human difference is crucial to this course, as it analyzes how
different cultures have undergone the experiences of colonialism and are now making sense
of the era of postcolonialism. Issues of social justice are also central to this course, as all of
the literary texts and theories read in the course deal with the relationship between
colonized and colonizer, and the resistance of the former to the hegemony of the latter.
Required Texts
The following texts are available for purchase at the Rutgers University Bookstore:
1) Ania Loomba, Colonialism/Postcolonialism. Second Edition. London and New York:
Routledge, 2005.
2) Pramoedya Ananta Toer, House of Glass. Trans. and with an Introd. by Max Lane. New York:
Penguin, 1992.
3) Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things. New York: Harper Perennial, 1997.
4) Sembène Ousmane, Xala. Trans. Clive Wake. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 1976.
5) José Rizal, El Filibusterismo (Subversion). Trans. Soledad Lacson-Locsin. Honolulu: University
of Hawai’i Press, 2007.
***Please note: if you do not wish to buy the books at the Rutgers University Bookstore or if
there aren’t enough books to be purchased there, then please buy the editions listed above. In
particular, buy the second edition of Colonialism/Postcolonialism, not the first edition; buy the
University of Hawai’i Press edition of El Filibusterismo, not any other edition.
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When books to be purchased are to be read, their titles are marked with an asterisk in the
syllabus. If a required text to be read is not marked with an asterisk, it is to be found on
Alexander Online Reserve. Readings will be found on the online list according to the date (given
on the syllabus) on which they will be discussed. Please print out copies of all the literary
readings on Alexander Online Reserve, and bring them to class. Secondary readings by historians
and critics, i.e., on Indian historiography, on English education in India, you need not print out
and bring to class but you are responsible for the major ideas in them.
Grading
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Attendance (10%)
Attendance will be taken at each class meeting.
Excused absences. Religiously observant students should indicate that they wish to be excused
on religious holidays, and these absences will be considered excused absences, following
university regulations. Athletes needing to attend practice or to take part in sport events at
certain times should officially inform me of their absences; absences for these reasons will be
considered excused absences. Other excused absences are family emergencies, transportation
emergencies, scheduled job interviews, and health emergencies, including scheduled visits to
doctors (students should bring a note from their doctor). Students who find themselves needing
to be excused for a long period of time for medical or other reasons should contact their college
dean and ask the dean to notify all of their professors about their need for a lengthy absence
from class.
Unexcused absences. Each student is allowed two unexcused absences for the semester.
Exceeding that number will result in a lowering of the grade by one point for each absence.
 Participation and oral presentation (15%)
Participation, including oral presentation and attendance at one event of the April 17
Postcolonialities conference. Students are expected to be ready to discuss the readings on the
day for which they are assigned. Occasional quizzes will be given. In addition, each student will
present an oral report on a topic from a list to be given out shortly after the semester begins.
Presentations should last about five minutes but no more than ten minutes and will be graded
on 1) the accuracy and originality of the close reading; 2) the organization of the presentation;
3) the quality of the delivery of the presentation (i.e., maintaining good eye contact with the
audience, talking rather than reading off of a paper, etc.). If a student misses the day scheduled
for their oral presentation for a legitimate reason (see under “excused absences”), they may
make up the oral presentation at a later time. If a student misses the day scheduled for their
oral presentation due to an unexcused absence, the student will not be allowed to make up the
presentation. Students are required to attend one session of the April 17 postcolonialities
conference and to prepare a two-page write-up, treating one or two points raised in the session.
 Three short (3-4-page) take-home exams (15% each)
These will be due on February 23, March 30, and April 23. I will give out questions for these one
or two class days before the exam is due.
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5-6-page final paper (30%)
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One 5-6-page paper that involves theory and one text read in the course. This will be due at the
latest on the exam date scheduled for the course, which is Wednesday May 13. I encourage
students to propose their own topic for this paper, but I must approve it.
***Note: All written work for the course should be typed in 12-point Times New Roman or
equivalent, with margins of one inch on all sides. Double-space all papers, number the pages,
and staple the pages together. Proofread all papers to catch grammatical and spelling errors,
and typos. Do not use sources outside of class readings. I will hand out a sheet of instructions,
before the first take-home exam is due, on how to write a literature paper, another on how to
do a close reading of a text, and another on how to quote from or refer to a text read in the
course. Always include a Works Cited section at the end of your papers, though not necessarily
on a separate sheet of paper.
Please note that an A-range paper explains and interprets the material in an original
manner, with an original and cogently articulated thesis. A B-range paper explains and
interprets the material adequately, but not exceptionally. Both A-range and B-range papers
refer specifically to the text(s), by discussing specific incidents and by quoting from the
text(s). A C-range paper clearly presents and summarizes ideas in the text(s) but has a weak
argument and does not quote from the text(s). A D-range paper presents an unclear
argument or has no argument and does not deal specifically with the text(s).
Grading Rubric
A 90-100
B+ 87-89
B 80-86
C+ 77-79
C 70-76
D 60-69
F 59 and below
Academic Integrity Policy
Violations include: cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, denying others access to information or
material, and facilitating violations of academic integrity.
http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/integrity.shtml
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use of other people’s words or ideas without proper
acknowledgment; when referring to other people’s ideas or using other people’s words
include a footnote, or a page number of the work in question, in parentheses, at the end of
the sentence in which you refer to that person’s ideas or words, following MLA format.
Include a Works Cited page at the end of your paper. Cases of plagiarism will be pursued
following university regulations.
Recommended Plagiarism Tutorials online
1. Take a 20 minute interactive-tutorial on Plagiarism and Academic Integrity,
http://sccweb.scc-net.rutgers.edu/douglass/sal/plagiarism/Intro.html
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2. For another view, use the Camden Plagiarism Tutorial
http://library.camden.rutgers.edu/EducationalModule/Plagiarism/
3. Consult Don't Plagiarize: Document Your Research! for tips about how to take
notes so that you don't plagiarize by accident.
http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/lib_instruct/instruct_document.shtml
Schedule
Thurs. Jan. 22 Introduction to course content and format
Mon. Jan. 26 What is postcolonialism? What is colonialism and what is the “post” in the
term postcolonialism?
Reading:
1) Ania Loomba, *Colonialism/Postcolonialism. Chapter One: “Situating Colonial and
Postcolonial Studies,” 7-24 (through top paragraph)
2) Neil Lazarus, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Postcolonial Literary Studies.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Timeline of significant events related to
colonialism and postcolonialism and significant literary, historical and theoretical
works related to colonialism and postcolonialism.
Assignment: Look at timeline from Neil Lazarus and locate the works we will be reading in
the course; tie these to historical and political developments in the countries in question.
Indonesia unit
Thurs. Jan. 29 Introduction to colonialism in Indonesia
Assignment: Look up Indonesia on Wikipedia and take one page of hand-written notes on
the Dutch colonization of the islands that they referred to as the Netherlands East Indies
and that later won their independence as the nation of Indonesia.
Reading: Pramoedya Ananta Toer, *House of Glass (Buru Quartet, 1980-88) Translator’s
Note, Introduction (Max Lane), Chs. 1-3 (1-75)
Mon. Feb. 2 House of Glass, Chs. 4-6 (76-158)
Thurs. Feb. 5 House of Glass, Chs. 7-9 (159-247)
Mon. Feb. 9 House of Glass, Chs. 10-12 (248-315)
Thurs. Feb. 12
Readings:
1) House of Glass, Chs. 13-14 (316-359)
2) Edward W. Said, “Orientalism.” In Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin, eds.
The Post-Colonial Studies Reader. London and New York: Routledge, 1995. 87-91.
Mon. Feb. 16
education
Theories relating to House of Glass: Orientalist discourse and colonial
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Readings:
1) Ania Loomba, *Colonialism/Postcolonialism, 74 (“This brings us to yet…”)-80 (end of
first paragraph)
2) Thomas Macaulay, “Minute on Indian Education.” In Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin, eds.
The Post-Colonial Studies Reader. 428-430.
3) Gauri Viswanathan, “Introduction.” Masks of Conquest: Literary Study and British Rule
in India. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989. 1-21, 171-173.
India unit
Thurs. Feb. 19 Arundhati Roy, *The God of Small Things (1997)
Reading: The God of Small Things, Chs. 1-2 (pp. 3-83)
Mon. Feb. 23 The God of Small Things, Chs. 3-6 (pp. 84-147)
**First short exam due
Thurs. Feb. 26
Readings:
1) The God of Small Things, Chs. 7-13 (pp. 148-253)
2) “abrogation” and “metonymic gap.” Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts. Bill
Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. London and New York: Routledge, 1998. 5-6,
137-38.
Mon. Mar. 2 The God of Small Things, Chs. 14-21 (pp. 254-321)
Thurs. Mar. 5 Theories of language: the languages of postcolonial literature, the language
of the colonized and the post-colonized
Readings:
1) Edward Kamau Brathwaite, “Nation Language.” In The Post-Colonial Studies Reader.
309-313.
2) Braj Kachru, “The Alchemy of English.” In The Post-Colonial Studies Reader. 29l-295.
Mon. Mar. 9 Mahasweta Devi, “Draupadi” (1978)
Readings:
1) Mahasweta Devi, “Draupadi.” In Mahasweta Devi, Breast Stories. Trans. Gayatri
Chakravorty Spivak. Calcutta: Seagull Books, 1997.
2) Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, “Draupadi: Translator’s Foreword.” In Breast Stories. 1-18.
3) “The Author in Conversation.” In Imaginary Maps: Three Stories by Mahasweta Devi.
Trans. and introd. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. New York and London: Routledge, 1995.
ix-xvii.
Thurs. Mar. 12 Theories of the subaltern
Readings:
1) Partha Chatterjee, “The Nation and Its Peasants.” In Mapping Subaltern Studies and
the Postcolonial. Ed. and introd. Vinayak Chaturvedi. London and New York: New Left
Review, 2000. 8-23.
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2) Ranajit Guha, “On Some Aspects of the Historiography of Colonial India.” In Mapping
Subaltern Studies. 1-7.
-------Spring Break (Mar. 14-22)-----Mon. Mar. 23 Theories of Language and Theories of the Subaltern
Readings:
1) Frantz Fanon, “The Negro and Language.” In Black Skin, White Masks [Peau noire,
masques blanches, 1952]. Trans. Charles Lam Markmann. New York: Grove Press, 67.
17-40.
2) Ngugi wa Thiong’o, “The Language of African Literature.” In Patrick Williams and Laura
Chrisman, eds. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: A Reader. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1994. 435-455.
3) Chinua Achebe. “The African Writer and the English Language.” In Williams and
Chrisman, Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory. 428-434.
4) Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, “Can the Subaltern Speak?” In The Post-Colonial Studies
Reader. 24-28.
5) Ania Loomba, *Colonialism/Postcolonialism: “Can the Subaltern Speak?” (192-204)
6) Ania Loomba, *Colonialism/Postcolonialism. “Psychoanalysis and Colonial Subjects.”
115-128.
Thurs. Mar. 26 No class
Philippines unit
Mon. Mar. 30 JoséRizal, *El Filibusterismo: (Subversion) (1891)
Reading: El Filibusterismo, Introductory material, Chs. 1-11 (pp. 1-89)
***Second short exam due
Thurs. Apr. 2 El Filibusterismo
Reading: El Filibusterismo, Chs. 12-20 (pp. 90-169)
Mon. Apr. 6 Theories of Nation and Resistance
Readings:
1) Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman, “Theorizing Colonised Cultures and Anti-Colonial
Resistance: Introduction.” In Williams and Chrisman, eds., Colonial Discourse and PostColonial Theory. 23-26.
2) Léopold Sédar Senghor, “Negritude: A Humanism of the Twentieth Century.” In
Williams and Chrisman. 27-35.
3) Frantz Fanon, “On National Culture.” In Williams and Chrisman. 36-52.
4) Amilcar Cabral, “National Liberation and Culture.” In Williams and Chrisman. 53-65.
5) Benedict Anderson, Introduction. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and
Spread of Nationalism. Rev. ed. London and New York: Verso, 1991. 1-7.
6) Partha Chatterjee, “Nationalism As a Problem.” In The Post-Colonial Studies Reader.
Eds. Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. London and New York: Routledge,
1995. 164-166.
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7) Ania Loomba, *Colonialism/Postcolonialism. “Nationalism and Pan-Nationalisms.” 154176.
Thurs. Apr. 9 El Filibusterismo
Reading: *El Filibusterismo, Chs. 21-28 (pp. 170-244)
Mon. Apr. 13 El Filibusterismo
Reading: El Filibusterismo, Chs. 29-The Final Chapter (pp. 245-316)
Thurs. Apr. 16 Special guest professor: Prof. Vicente Rafael, University of Washington.
Concluding discussion of El Filibusterismo.
Fridy Apr. 17 Conference on Postcolonialities. Attend one event and do a one-page writeup, discussing one or two points that interested you, and, if relevant, relating them to
theories and/or literary texts read in the course.
Sénégal unit
Mon. Apr. 20 Theories of mimicry and gender
Readings:
1) Homi K. Bhabha, “Of Mimicry and Man.” Homi K. Bhabha. The Location of Culture.
London and New York: Routledge, 1994. 85-92.
2) Ania Loomba, *Colonialism/Postcolonialism. “Hybridity.” 145-153.
Thurs. Apr. 23 Sénégal unit: Sembène Ousmane, *Xala (1974)
Reading: *Xala pp. 1-53
***Third short exam due
Mon. Apr. 27 *Xala, Feminism and Postcolonialism
Readings:
1) *Xala pp. 53-101
2) Ania Loomba, *Colonialism/Postcolonialism. “Feminism, Nationalism, and
Postcolonialism.” 180-192.
3) Chandra Talpade Mohanty, “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial
Discourses.” Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin. 259-263.
4) Kirsten Holst Petersen, “First Things First: Problems of a Feminist Approach to African
Literature.” Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin. 251-254.
5) Sara Suleri, “Woman Skin Deep: Feminism and the Postcolonial Condition.” Ashcroft,
Griffiths, and Tiffin. 273-280.
Thurs. Apr. 30 Sembène Ousmane, Xala (movie) (1974)
Mon. May 4 Xala (movie)
***Final 5-6-page paper due: Wed. May 13 at 12 Noon
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