African Literature and Gender

1. Define African literature and its various phases.
2. Discuss the theme of gender in African literature.
3. Review the concerns of Western and African feminists.
4. Explain feminism and the African literary experience.
5. Analyze the portrayal of women in selected African fiction.
6. Critically evaluate gender theories and their application to literary analysis.

13 weeks, about 42 hours in total. Yours will differ.

1. Week 1Module 1: African Literature and Culture

   • Unit 1: African Literature and Its Phases · 3 hours

     Read Unit 1: African Literature and Its Phases, focusing on the definition and origin of African Literature.. Identify the characteristics of African Literature and its different phases.. Compare the phases of African Literature and outline the main concerns of pioneer African poets..

2. Week 2Module 1: African Literature and Culture

   • Unit 2: Phases of African Poetry in English (I) · 3 hours

     Study Unit 2: Phases of African Poetry in English (I), differentiating the phases of African poetry.. Review the pioneer phase of African poetry and discuss its themes.. Explain the roles of pioneer African poets in the political independence of African nations..

3. Week 3Module 1: African Literature and Culture

   • Unit 3: Phases of African Poetry in English (II) · 3 hours

     Study Unit 3: Phases of African Poetry in English (II), focusing on the transitional phase of African poetry in English.. Identify the themes of the poetry of this phase.. Analyze the issues raised in Gabriel Okara's 'The Call of the River Nun'..

4. Week 4Module 1: African Literature and Culture

   • Unit 4: Phases of African Poetry in English (III) · 3 hours

     Study Unit 4: Phases of African Poetry in English (III), discussing the modernist and contemporary phases of African poetry in English.. Differentiate between the modernist and contemporary phases of African poetry in English.. Identify the philosophy of the contemporary poet in English..

5. Week 5Module 2: Black Voices as African Literature

   • Unit 1: African Fiction in English (I) · 3 hours

     Study Unit 1: African Fiction in English (I), discussing the beginning of the African novel in English, with regional peculiarities.. Identify the pioneers in West African fiction.. Outline and differentiate the focus and themes of the pioneers of West African prose fiction..

6. Week 6Module 2: Black Voices as African Literature

   • Unit 2: African Fiction in English (II) · 3 hours

     Study Unit 2: African Fiction in English (II), identifying some East and Central African novelists.. Discuss the plot of any of the East and Central African novels.. Outline the notable South African novelists and explain the themes in some of these novels..

7. Week 7Module 2: Black Voices as African Literature

   • Unit 3: African Literature in Portuguese · 3 hours

     Study Unit 3: African Literature in Portuguese, tracing the development of Portuguese literature.. Explain the poetry of Portuguese-speaking Africans.. Discuss themes of selected works of writers of Portuguese expression and identify major writers of the contemporary Portuguese..

8. Week 8Module 2: Black Voices as African Literature

   • Unit 4: African Drama in French and English · 3 hours

     Study Unit 4: African Drama in French and English, discussing the development of African drama.. Explain the focus of any playwright of your choice in a chosen play.. Identify some African playwrights discussed in this unit and compare the plays of contemporary playwrights discussed in this unit..

9. Week 9Module 3: History and Feminism

   • Unit 1: Historical Overview of Feminism · 3 hours

     Study Unit 1: Historical Overview of Feminism, tracing the history of feminism from a general perspective.. Discuss the main concern(s) of the first wave of feminism.. Identify the features that make up the second wave of feminism..

10. Week 10Module 3: History and Feminism

    • Unit 2: Feminist Expressions · 3 hours

      Study Unit 2: Feminist Expressions, identifying the different categories of feminism.. Explain the specific types there are in the categories of feminism.. Discuss the major stance of feminism generally..

11. Week 11Module 3: History and Feminism

    • Unit 3: Feminism and the African Experience (I) · 3 hours

      Study Unit 3: Feminism and the African Experience (I), discussing how Africans adopted feminism to their own experience.. Explain the social institution of patriarchy and women's disempowerment.. Make a comparison the plight of Nigerian women with those other women from Africa..

12. Week 12Module 3: History and Feminism

    • Unit 4: Feminism and the African Experience (II) · 3 hours

      Study Unit 4: Feminism and the African Experience (II), becoming familiar with the other types of African feminism that are not so popular.. Identify the major differences among the three types.. Discuss the particular experiences that gave rise to the creation of the types of African feminism..

13. Week 13Module 4: Women, Gender, and the Feminist Question

    • Unit 1: Women at the Centre in Selected African Fiction · 3 hours

      Study Unit 1: Women at the Centre in Selected African Fiction, identifying the various patriarchal challenges women experience in their respective environments.. Explore the general belief that women do not like one another.. Discuss the various coping/survival mechanisms put up by women..

    • Unit 2: Major Western Feminist Views (I) · 3 hours

      Study Unit 2: Major Western Feminist Views (I), discussing feminism from a Western perspective.. Become knowledgeable in the different strands of Western feminism there are.. Identify the central tenets of the feminist theories of Elaine Showalter, Helene Cixous, and Josephine Donovan..