This module places emphasis on the literary representations of city spaces and cityscapes in the 19th to 21st centuries. Literary representations of the city imagine and re-imagine social, cultural, political and economic aspects of the past, present and future. Narratives that centre on city spaces are “complex products which form part of the ways in which we talk about ourselves and meditate upon the fate of the peoples” of various times (Westwood and Williams 2005:12).
In the first section of the module, the focus is on literary representations of the African city. It explores the complexities of the apartheid city, the post-apartheid city and the postcolonial city. The widespread focus will help students grasp the evolution of urban narratives and the politics of mobility, identity and space in past, present and future African cities as “sites of creativity and crisis” (Santana 2014:44).
In the second section of the module, the settings of the selected texts cover a wide range of
geographical spaces, including New York, London and a future South Africa. The
analytical focus is on issues that pertain to identity formation, home, nation,
narration and those associated with the human condition.
- Teacher: Thulani Mkhize