Southern African Literature: Environmental Readings

This course offers an introduction to the literature of Southern Africa with a special emphasis on environmental representations. Shaped by a rich and complex history which often revolves around competing and conflicting claims to land and natural resources, these texts address the intersections of environmental concerns, sustainability and human rights. The large scale land appropriation and violent relocation of the majority of the population was modelled on Eurocentric ideas concerning the relation between humanity and the natural environment where indigenous populations were often seen as part of nature. The course will introduce students to a range of literary and theoretical texts which focus on the present day legacy of this history and its consequences for environmental concerns. We explore some of the historical, formal, political and ethical aspects of Southern African literature and discuss it within the framework of theories within Environmental Humanities. NB: The course has scheduled online classes when given as a distance course.