DR KATARZYNA PISARSKA

ENGLISH (POST)COLONIAL CULTURE

The course deals with some of the most significant issues for the study of (post)colonialism and its
impact on British culture and identity. Covering several centuries, from the Renaissance to the
present, it has a twofold approach: 1. The study of critical concepts of Postcolonial Studies such as
‘alterity’, hybridity’, mimicry’, ‘going native’, ‘ambivalence’, etc.; 2. Analysis and discussion of a
variety of texts, films and images from different sources and historical periods in the light of the
framework provided. (N.B.: The syllabus may vary depending on changes in the teaching staff)

READING LIST:

William Shakespeare, The Tempest (1610-11)

Aphra Behn, Oroonoko: or, the Royal Slave (excerpts) (1688)

Steele, Richard, The Spectator 1711, no. 11. – Wednesday 21.09

Boehmer, Elleke, ed. (1998). An Anthology of Colonial Literature 1870-1918. Oxford: Oxford
University Press. (selected texts)

George Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant” (1936) – Wednesday 21.09 (available online)

Buchi Emecheta, Second-Class Citizen (1974)

V. S. Naipaul, selected short stories from Collected Short Fiction of V.S. Naipaul (2011)

- Recommendations regarding specific editions of the main texts will be given at the beginning of the
semester.

- The main reading materials will be supplemented by relevant critical texts as well as audiovisual
materials (documentaries).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ashcroft, B. et al. (2013). Postcolonial Studies: The Key Concepts, 3rd ed. London and New York:
Routledge.

Ashcroft, B. et al., eds. (2005). The Post-Colonial Studies Reader, 2nd ed. London and New York:
Routledge.
Boehmer, E. (2005). Colonial and Postcolonial Literature: Migrant Metaphors, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.

Loomba, A. (1998). Colonialism/Postcolonialism. London and New York: Routledge.

Olusoga, D. (2021). Black and British: A Forgotten History. London: Picador.

Said E. (2003). Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient. London: Penguin.

Spurr, D. (1993). The Rhetoric of Empire. Durham: Duke University Press.

Theme, J. (2003). Post-Colonial Studies. The Essential Glossary. London: Oxford University Press.