African 413/813: Contemporary African and Caribbean Drama

This course will introduce students to classics of contemporary African and Caribbean literary drama written in English. We will organize our survey around such interesting thematic issues as history and memory, the African encounter with Europe, postcolonial disillusionment and the betrayal of ideals, and also stylistic matters as the relationship(s) between indigenous traditions and other performance forms, and modern drama written in European languages. This course will encourage students to think about the long histories of cultural, performance, and theatrical relationships between Africa and the Caribbean and how the relationships have been shaped by race, culture and economics, past and present. The course will promote critical thinking by challenging students to question conventional claims made by others and their own assumptions; it will invite students to think through the perspectives of others with empathy and respect, and stimulate analytical thinking about identity. Writers to be studied include Wole Soyinka, Derek Walcott, Aime Cesaire, Ama Ata Aidoo, Femi Osofisan, Sindiwe Magona, Mustapha Matura, and the Sistren Theatre Collective.