DCU Home | Our Courses | Loop | Registry | Library | Search DCU
<< Back to Module List

Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

All Module information is indicative, and this portal is an interim interface pending the full upgrade of Coursebuilder and subsequent integration to the new DCU Student Information System (DCU Key).

As such, this is a point in time view of data which will be refreshed periodically. Some fields/data may not yet be available pending the completion of the full Coursebuilder upgrade and integration project. We will post status updates as they become available. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Date posted: September 2024

Module Title Empire Writing & Postcolonial Literatures
Module Code EL206 (ITS) / LIT1027 (Banner)
Faculty Humanities & Social Sciences School English
Module Co-ordinatorEugene McNulty
Module TeachersEllen Howley
NFQ level 8 Credit Rating 5
Pre-requisite Not Available
Co-requisite Not Available
Compatibles Not Available
Incompatibles Not Available
None
Description

This module examines the construction of colonial discourses, as revealed by contemporaneous cultural production, and the emergence of postcolonial responses in the wake of decolonisation. Drawing on colonial discourse analysis and the field of postcolonial studies, the course addresses the links between culture, empire, and postcoloniality – in particular it seeks to unpack the ways in which colonial spaces and peoples were represented within discourses borne of the European expansionist project, and how these spaces and peoples have sought to ‘write back’ through a series of rearticulated postcolonial cultural lenses.

Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate an understanding of colonial discourse analysis.
2. Explore the links between political narratives of power and cultural production
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the key concerns of postcolonial studies
4. Explore the relationship between postcolonial writers and those writers from the colonial period
5. Draw on colonial discourse analysis and postcolonial thinkers to analyse key concepts such race, gender, national identity etc.



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Lecture21Lectures
Independent Study104Independent Learning
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Colonial Discourse Analysis

Postcolonial Theory

Early-modern ideas of empire

Empire and Capitalism / Industrialisation

Empire and adventure narratives

Empire and race

Empire and gender

Settler colonies

Postcolonial writers: African, Caribbean, South-east Asia

Ireland and postcoloniality

The post-colony condition: Australia / Canada

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment100% Examination Weight0%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
Essayn/a25%n/a
Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories:
Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module.
Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module.
Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category 1
Indicative Reading List

  • Francis Barker, Peter Hulme, and Margaret Iversen (eds.): 0, Colonial Discourse, postcolonial theory,
  • Patrick Brantlinger: 0, Rule of Darkness,
  • Ania Loomba: 0, Colonialism / Postcolonialism,
  • Edward Said: 0, Culture and Imperialism,
  • Edward Said: 0, Imperialism,
  • Gayatri Spivak: 0, In other worlds,
  • Steve Spencer, Race and Ethnicity: 0, Culture, identity and representation,
  • C.L. Innes: 0, The Cambridge Introduction to Postcolonial Literature in English,
  • Benita Parry: 0, Postcolonial Studies: A Materialist Critique,
  • Robert J. C. Young: 0, Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction,
Other Resources

None

<< Back to Module List