Table of contents

The course is connected to the following study programs

Teaching language

English

Recommended previous knowledge

It is recommended that EN-455-1 has been completed or is taken during the same semester.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this course, students will have knowledge of

  • the formal features and thematic preoccupations of selected works of anglophone literature from the Caribbean and the Caribbean diaspora written from the 1950s to the present
  • the cultural, historical and political circumstances that have shaped the material and intellectual conditions of the Caribbean
  • key decolonial, Black diasporic and postocolonial theoretical writings that are relevant for the understanding of the Caribbean and its literature. Describe cultural, historical, and political contexts for anglophone Caribbean literary production in the post-1945 era.

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to

  • Analyse selected anglophone Caribbean literary texts in light of the cultural, historical, and political contexts of the Caribbean after World War II
  • Interpret developments and patterns in post-1945 Caribbean literary production in light of theoretical perspectives adapted from decolonial and diasporic thinkers and postcolonial theory.

Contents

Attending to the literature of the "Windrush generation," the course explores how Caribbean writers who migrated to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s constructed new identities as they navigated life in what for the duration of their colonial educations had been termed the "motherland." Through their novels, short stories and poetry, such writers engaged in aesthetic experiment within the parameters of the established literary tradition. The course also attends to experiments in and with new forms of literary production, often connected to orality and performance and typically practised by constituencies of Caribbean writers with different backgrounds. In navigating these facets of literary culture, students engage in debates concerning the criteria used to establish and defend literary value and with gaps in the archival record. Analysis of selected creative texts in the Caribbean literary tradition is informed by short readings from major intellectual figures in decolonial and diasporic thought such as Frantz Fanon, Paul Gilroy, Stuart Hall, and Sylvia Wynter, alongside works of postcolonial literary theory.

Teaching and learning methods

Seminars. Active and regular participation is expected. The estimated workload is approximately 270 hours.

Examination requirements

Students must attend 70% of the seminars and complete two forms of coursework: 1) a mid-term presentation on a selected keyword (or keywords) related to the course material (5 minutes); 2) prepare to lead class discussion during one seminar; this takes the form of preparing 200-300 words of notes responding to questions circulated by the class teacher (submitted prior to class) and a willingness to share insights from these notes in class discussion.

Both 1) and 2) must be assessed as a pass.

Examinations

An individual two-week take home essay (circa 3000 words). Graded assessment.

Student evaluation

The study programme manager, in consultation with the student representative, decides the method of evaluation and whether the courses will have a midterm- or end of term evaluation, see also the Quality System, section 4.1.

Offered as a free-standing course

Yes, if there are places available.

Admission Requirement if given as a free-standing course

Same admission requirements apply as for the Master's Programme in English.
Last updated from FS (Felles studentsystem) Oct. 15, 2026 8:55:28 AM