This seminar aims to familiarize students with Anglophone Afropean writing and the wider traditions of literature and knowledge production generated within the African diaspora in Europe. We will begin by discussing definitions of "Afropean" as the term relates to identity and cultural prodution. Taking Johny Pitts's travelogue Afropean: Notes from Black Europe (2019) as a starting point, we will consider how "Afropean" can be understood as "a utopian alternative to the doom and gloom that has surrounded the black image in Europe" (Pitts 2) and yet one which runs the risk of "wilfully ignoring realities shared by a majority of black people living within Europe" (Pitts 4). As we move through the semester, we will historicize Anglophone Afropean writing, attend to its aesthetic characteristics and innovations, and discuss its political dimensions. Primary texts span the genres of prose, poetry, and drama and will include "The Museum" by Leila Aboulela (1999), excerpts from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789) and Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands (1857), Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata Aidoo (1977), "A Fanfare for the Colonized" by Philipp Khabo Koepsell (2016), Also by Mail by Olumide Popoola (2013), and Broken Halves of a Milky Sun by Aaiún Nin (2022). Throughout the semester, students will gain skills in close reading, academic research and engagement with secondary texts, critical discussion, and academic writing.

Kurs im HIS-LSF