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2014/15 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL32141 Post-Apartheid Narratives: Reconcilliation and its Discontents

20 creditsClass Size: 10

School of English

Module manager: Dr Samuel Durrant
Email: s.r.durrant@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2014/15

Pre-requisite qualifications

Grade A in English Literature A level, NOT English Language, or an achieved mark of 56 or above in a Level 1 module in English

Please note: This module is restricted to Level 2 and 3 students. Enrolment priority will be given to Level 2 students for a restricted period (as detailed in the School’s Module Handbook).

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

This module will look at recent South African literature in relation to the expectation that it should contribute to the postapartheid project of national reconciliation.

Objectives

- To explore postapartheid literature in the context of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission: how does this literature respond to the hegemonic demands for reconciliation?
- More widely, to understand how literature can be both determined by, and interruptive of, a national politics.

Learning outcomes
- The student will become familiar with apartheid and postapartheid history but the key skills are in critically interpreting literature and how specific works respond to political pressures.
- Transferable skills explicitly developed include written and oral argumentation, independent research and critical thinking.

Syllabus

Mourners at Nelson Mandela’s funeral in December 2013 were censored for booing the arrival of Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s current president and head of a corrupt postapartheid political elite. This module explores the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the body that was charged with building a new South Africa that would overcome the deeply entrenched divisions of the apartheid era. The TRC heard harrowing testimony from both the victims and the perpetrators of apartheid, testimony that was framed by a model of forgiveness and reconciliation championed by Mandela and subsequently adopted in other post-conflict zones. Postapartheid literature was expected to follow this model and provide narratives of reconciliation that would further heal the nation. While some narratives do indeed work to provide forms of reconciliation, others are sharply critical, questioning whether reconciliation is possible when apartheid’s rulers and henchmen go unpunished and the majority of apartheid’s victims remain in extreme poverty. We will explore the kinds of truth that fictional testimonies are able to offer, the forms of closure and healing they grant or deny apartheid’s victims, and the modes of forgiveness and absolution they offer or withhold from apartheid’s perpetrators and beneficiaries. No prior knowledge of South African literature or history is expected. In addition to the set texts, Professor Jane Taylor has kindly agreed to screen and discuss her multimedia play, Ubu and The Truth Commission, due to tour the UK in 2014.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Film Screenings	5	1.00	5.00
Seminar	10	1.00	10.00
Private study hours			185.00
Total Contact hours			15.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Teaching will be through weekly seminars (10 x 1 hour) plus 5 additional hours of film and play screenings.

Private Study: Reading, seminar preparation, essay writing.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

- Seminar contribution
- 700 word proposal for the assessed essay.
- Unassessed work (contributing weekly to an online discussion group (100 words/week)). Whilst the unassessed work does not form part of the assessment for this module it is a requirement and MUST be submitted. Students who fail to submit the unassessed pieces will be awarded a maximum mark of 40 for the module (a bare Pass).

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	The module is assessed by a 4000 word essay. Unassessed work includes contributing weekly to an online discussion group (100 words/week) and a 700 word proposal for the assessed essay. Whilst the unassessed work does not form part of the assessment for this module it is a requirement and MUST be submitted. Students who fail to submit the unassessed pieces will be awarded a maximum mark of 40 for the module (a bare Pass).	100.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 25/03/2015

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