English 277 Postcolonial Women Writers

Ambreen Hai

MW 1:10-2:30

A comparative study of primarily twentieth-century women writers in English from Africa, the Caribbean, South Asia and Australia. We will read novels, short stories, poetry, plays, and autobiography in their historical, cultural and political contexts as well as theoretical essays to address questions such as: how have women writers challenged both colonial and postcolonial assumptions about gender, identity, nationhood, or diaspora? How do they address issues often ignored by their male contemporaries or forbears, such as sexuality, desire, motherhood, childhood, sickness, poverty, or relations among women? How differently do they understand experiences of the body, home, travel, displacement, globalization, history, or relationships across axes of difference, such as class, race or religion? How do they negotiate between nationalist or anti-colonial agendas and feminist critiques of patriarchal systems? Writers may include Attia Hosain, Anita Desai, Kamala Das, Thrity Umrigar, Ama Ata Aidoo, Bessie Head, Nawal-el-Saadawi, Jamaica Kincaid, Michelle Cliff, Shani Mootoo, Zadie Smith, Sally Morgan. Pre-requisite: a WI course.