1. Becoming familiar with concepts and theories of blackness within the larger field of Postcolonial Studies;
2. Learning to analyze blackness at its intersections with gender, ethnicity, nation, and class as well as locally and globally;
3. Understanding complex theoretical texts in their historical-political context as well as in relation to cultural objects (particularly audio-visual material);
4. Learning to interpret and analyze cultural objects with an emphasis on their medium and genre specificity.
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Priority rules apply to this course. Make sure you register for this course before June 15, 12.00 noon to be considered for enrollment.
The following students are guaranteed a place:
- BA TCS or LAS;
- students who are registered for the minor Postcolonial Studies;
- pre-master’s students;
- exchange students.
Other students will be placed by means of random selection.
The course addresses the main theories and debates in the study of the intersections of gender, racial construction, and cultural practices. Students will develop an understanding of race as a specific formation and object of inquiry within Postcolonial Studies as well as other related fields, such as Cultural Studies and Gender Studies. Particular emphasis is placed on introducing and sharpening key conceptual tools for analyzing the various intersections between the “postcolonial” and the social vectors of gender, race, ethnicity, class, and culture. The course examines postcolonial global realities, paying close attention to postcolonial configurations of the social and political terrains as well as the ways in which various expressive forms in the domains of artistic and cultural production have recorded and engaged with these shifts. Questions of power and global asymmetry, of social inclusion and exclusion, and of cultural representation and appropriation will be addressed in our analyses of authors and cultural products that contest, transgress, and rearticulate national boundaries and social identities. The course focuses especially on 'blackness', foregrounding the place of different concepts and debates - such as the intellectual and political project of Négritude, debates on syncretism, creolization, and colorism, and black feminist and queer critical theories - within the larger field of Postcolonial Studies. These concepts and debates are addressed through a close engagement with theoretical texts as well as audio-visual material (movies, documentaries, TV series).
This course is the second course in the minor Postcolonial Studies, for more information about this minor see: http://students.uu.nl/en/node/351/postcolonial-studies.
LAS and TCS students who follow this course as part of the core curriculum of their major (hoofdrichting Postcolonial and Gender Studies) are required to complete one of the following compulsory preparation courses: Introduction to Gender Studies (blok 3), Gender, etniciteit en cultuurkritiek (blok 1) or Gender, Ethnicity and Cultural Critique (block 1). See https://tcs.sites.uu.nl/ for more information.
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Early Exit option for international exchange students (5 ECTS)
Exchange students who are required to return to their home university before January, are allowed to choose an Early Exit option for this course. The Early Exit option means that students can finish the course before Christmas break, receiving 5 ECTS for the course. Students must make arrangements with the course coordinator at the start of the course.
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