AFST 326 - African Drama

Credits: (3)
College Curriculum: COLL 200
Domain (Anchored): ALV
Domain (Reaching Out): CSI

This course will examine a range of texts from Africa’s dramatic literature. Texts originally written in English or translated from other languages will be studied. Selected plays will be carefully audited to demonstrate how they reflect the condition of African people at various historical periods. As Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o observes in his book Decolonizing the Mind, it is the life of a people rather than a theatre building that constitutes the principal driving force of drama. In what ways have the subject matter and dramatic devices of the selected plays sought to illuminate African life or dramatize local experiences that are of cosmic significance? This will be an ongoing question of interest as we attempt to comprehend how the plays also situate African drama in the broader postcolonial context. Theoretical and critical writings will be read alongside dramatic texts.
Cross-listed with: ENGL 326