Syllabus on Decolonial Theory and Post-Colonial Literature

UNIT I: FOUNDATIONAL DECOLONIAL THEORIES AND EPISTEMOLOGIES

  • Frantz Fanon

    • Specific Reading: "Concerning Violence"
    • Source Collection: Featured in the seminal work The Wretched of the Earth.
    • Focus: Examination of the mechanisms and psychology of violence within the colonial and decolonial process.

  • Boaventura de Sousa Santos

    • Specific Reading: "Pathways toward the Epistemologies of the South"
    • Source Collection: Featured in The End of the Cognitive Empire.
    • Key Themes: Exploration of alternative knowledge systems and the critique of Western-centric cognitive dominance.

  • Mario Lugones

    • Specific Reading: "Toward a Decolonial Feminism"
    • Focus: Intersectional analysis of gender, power, and coloniality through a decolonial framework.

UNIT II: EPISTEMIC DELINKING AND INDIGENOUS RESURGENCE

  • Walter Mignolo

    • Specific Reading: "DELINKING: The rhetoric of modernity, the logic of coloniality and the grammar of de-coloniality"
    • Focus: The conceptual framework for delinking from European modernity and the analysis of the "darker side" of modernity (coloniality).

  • Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

    • Primary Work: "Nishnaabeg Resurgence: Theories from Within"
    • Associated Texts:
      • "Within"
      • "Theorizing Resurgence from within Nishnaabeg Thought"
    • Source Collection: These works appear in the text Dancing on Our Turtle's Back.
    • Core Concepts: Indigenous-centered methodologies, resurgence of Nishnaabeg thought, and theoretical frameworks generated from within indigenous communities.

UNIT III: LITERARY REPRESENTATIONS AND MODERN MYTHOPOEIA

  • Amos Tutuola

    • Key Text: The Palm-Wine Drinkard
    • Context: A foundational work of African literature known for its unique synthesis of Yoruba folklore and the English language.

  • Amitav Ghosh

    • Key Text: The Living Mountain
    • Context: A recent work addressing environmental ethics, colonial exploitation, and the collapse of nature through a parabolic or mythic narrative.

UNIT IV: ECOLOGICAL NARRATIVES AND VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS

  • David Kopenwa

    • Key Text: The Falling Sky
    • Focus: Yanomami perspectives on the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and the spiritual/ecological consequences of industrial encroachment.

  • James Cameron (Director)

    • Primary Media: Avatar (Film)
    • Note: A cinematic exploration of themes relating to colonialism, resource extraction, and the resistance of indigenous populations (the Na'vi) against industrial powers.

COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF SUGGESTED READINGS

  • Ashcroft, Bill, et al. Eds.

    • Title: The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures.
    • Publisher: Routledge, New York.
    • Publication Date: 1995.
    • Relevance: A foundational survey of the development of post-colonial literary theory.

  • De Sousa Santos, Boaventura

    • Title: The End of the Cognitive Empire: The Coming of Age of Epistemologies of the South.
    • Publisher: Duke University.
    • Publication Date: 2018.
    • Relevance: Further elaboration on the necessity of validating non-Western epistemologies.

  • Grosfoguel, Ramon

    • Title: "Decolonizing Post-Colonial Studies and Paradigms of Political-Economy: Transmodernity, Decolonial Thinking, and Global Coloniality."
    • Journal/Publication: Transmodernity: Journal of Peripheral Cultural.
    • Publication Date: 2011.
    • Relevance: A critical assessment of post-colonial studies, advocating for a shift toward transmodern and decolonial paradigms in political-economy and global studies.