Post-Colonial Film, Literature and Theory

Throughout the mid- to late-twentieth century, formerly colonized people from around the world gained independence and established new nations. It meant the end of a particular form of oppression but also the enormous challenge of producing new cultural norms, governance, social relations, and intellectual habits. Decolonization gave as much rise to civil wars and coup d’états as to a rich body of art that imagines unseen possibilities while registering the realities of intergenerational trauma, survival, and diaspora. We will explore how new media capture these experiences by encountering films and novels by Ousmane Sembène, Michel Khleifi, Atom Egoyan, Sohrab Salles, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Tayeb Salih, and Arundhati Roy, to name a few. We will supplement our reading and viewing with major architects and theorists of anti-colonial revolutions like Franz Fanon and C.L.R. James. Fulfills the DIV13 requirement. Also offered as Digital Media and Film 357and Global Studies 357. Prerequisite: ENG 250

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