Aspects of Contemporary Prose Practice

Using Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus , Tayeb Saleh's The Weddingof Zein and Other Stories , Luis Bernard Honwana's We Killed Mangy Dog , and Our Sister Killjoy , this course will look at prose narrative in contemporary African Literature, for a background to general narrative practice. Among areas of special interest, the course will examine the contents and structure of the short story, not as an abbreviated novel, but as an autonomous genre. We shall also look at literature in translation, and discuss what the reader loses in the process if anything, and how much that matters, if at all. Students will be expected to work on short stories and novel chapters. Instructor permission required. Enrollment limited to 12. S/NC.