Postgraduate Course: Postcolonial Writing (ENLI11007)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will introduce students to some of the key texts and critical debates within postcolonial literary studies. Texts will span the period from the age of high imperialism in the late nineteenth century to the present day, and will be read alongside important works of postcolonial theory and criticism. |
| Course description |
Primary texts, selected from a range of global literary contexts, will be explored with reference to a range of key terms and topics including (inter alia) orientalism, counter-discourse, gender and sexuality; mimicry, nationalism, ethnicity and subjectivity, diaspora, language, the body. We will also consider key formal and aesthetic dimensions of primary texts, and engage with critical debates on the relationship between politics and style in postcolonial literature.
We will also interrogate the significance of the term 'postcolonial' itself. What are the differences between imperialism and colonialism, or postcolonial and neocolonial, for instance? Or what are the limitations of the 'postcolonial' label in comparison to 'decolonial', a term that is now widely used as an alternative?
Indicative reading list for 2025/26
Ashcroft, Bill; Griffiths, Gareth; Tiffin, Helen (eds). The Postcolonial Studies Reader (3rd edition). London and New York: Routledge, 2024.
Ashcroft, Bill; Griffiths, Gareth; Tiffin, Helen. Postcolonial Studies: The Key Concepts. London and New York: Routledge, 2013.
Boehmer, Elleke. Stories of Women: Gender and Narrative in the Postcolonial Nation. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2013.
Chew, Shirley and Richards, David. A Concise Companion to Postcolonial Literature. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Chrisman, Laura; Williams, Patrick (eds). Colonial Discourse and Post-colonial Theory: a Reader. London and New York: Routledge, 2013.
Gandhi, Leela. Postcolonial Theory: A Critical Introduction. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019.
Huggan, Graham (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Postcolonial Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Lazarus, Neil (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Postcolonial Literary Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Lewis, Reina and Mills, Sara (eds). Feminist Postcolonial Theory: A Reader. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003.
Loomba, Ania. Colonialism/Postcolonialism. London and New York: Routledge, 215.
McLeod, John. Beginning Postcolonialism (2nd edition). Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2010.
Talib, Ismail. The Language of Postcolonial Literatures: An Introduction. London and New York: Routledge, 2002.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Students on LLC MSc programmes get first priority to this course. If you are not on an LLC programme, please let your administrator or the course administrator know you are interested in the course. Unauthorised enrolments will be removed. No auditors are permitted. |
| Additional Costs | Purchase of essential texts as required. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One essay of 4,000 words [linked to learning outcomes 1,2,3,4]. |
| Feedback |
Postgraduate students submit a 1,000-word essay outline in the second half of the course (usually Week 10 or 11), and receive formative written feedback within 10 working days. Written feedback and provisional marks (double-marked in the Department, subject to external moderation) are returned within 15 working days.
Students are also welcome to visit the tutor in office hours or by appointment to discuss their work and receive oral feedback on the outline and/or assessment. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Construct original, clear and coherent arguments about the ways in which postcolonial writing engages with imperialism and its legacies.
- Analyse literary texts using recognised methods of literary criticism to substantiate and illustrate those arguments.
- Evaluate ideas from key thinkers within postcolonial theory, and articulate the relationship between postcolonial theory and other critical movements .
- Analyse formal dimensions of postcolonial literary texts (such as language/style; structure; literary devices) and illustrate your findings with close readings of examples from texts on the course.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
Jointly taught with UG ENLI10217 |
| Keywords | PCW |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Michelle Keown
Tel: (0131 6)50 6856
Email: michelle.keown@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Hope Hamilton
Tel: (0131 6)50 4167
Email: hope.hamilton@ed.ac.uk |
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