ECTS credits ECTS credits: 6
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Student's work ECTS: 99 Hours of tutorials: 3 Expository Class: 24 Interactive Classroom: 24 Total: 150
Use languages Spanish, Galician, English
Type: Ordinary Degree Subject RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Departments: English and German Philology
Areas: English Philology
Center Faculty of Philology
Call: First Semester
Teaching: With teaching
Enrolment: Enrollable
This subject has as its general goal the study and critical analysis of English-language literature produced in the postcolonial context, as well as the development of the abilities to speak and write on the texts under analysis.
1. Introduction to basic concepts of postcolonial theory (2 weeks)
• Post-colonialism, Colonialism, Patronage, Resistance, Nativism
• Fanonism, Orientalism, Colonial body, Colonial desire
• Hegemony, Mimicry, Hybridity
2. Postcolonial poetry (3 weeks)
• Ireland. The Psychopathology of Colonization (a selection of poems)
3. Postcolonial novel (3 weeks)
• Beyond the Pale in Northern Ireland: Anna Burns' Milkman
4. Postcolonial short fiction (2 weeks)
• Nigeria. Writing Black: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Thing Around Your Neck
5. Postcolonial essay (1 week)
• Colourism in the Caribbean: Michelle Cliff, If I Could Write This in Fire, I Would Write this in Fire
6. Postcolonial drama (2 weeks)
• The Indian Subcontinent. Manjula Padmanabhan, Lights Out.
Remaining weeks: oral presentations and justification of activities for autonomous learning.
PRIMARY WORKS: The professor will facilitate a selection of poems for the poetry section, as well as the essay by Michelle Cliff. The rest of the texts are available at the BUSC.
BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Ashcroft, Bill and Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. Key concepts in post-colonial studies. London: Routledge, 1999.
Quayson, Ato, ed. The Cambridge history of postcolonial literature. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2011.
COMPLEMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Allen-Randolph, Jody (ed.). Eavan Boland: a sourcebook : poetry, prose, interviews, reviews and criticism. Manchester: Carcanet, 2007.
Bringas López, Ana María. “The Black Woman's Burden: postcolonial gender in Caribbean women’s writing”. BABEL A.F.I.A.L. 12 (2003): 201-218.
Caramés Lage, José Luis et al. (eds). Literatura post-colonial en inglés: India, Africa y Caribe. Teoría y práctica. Oviedo: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Oviedo, 1997.
Carroll, Clare & Patricia King (eds.). Ireland and Postcolonial Theory. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 2003.
Döring, Tobias. Caribbean-English Passages: intertexuality in a postcolonial tradition. London, New York: Routledge, 2002.
Lewis, Reina & Sara Mills (eds.). Feminist Postcolonial Theory: A Reader. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003.
Nayar, Pramod K. Colonial voices: the discourses of empire. Chichester/ Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.
Palacios, Manuela. “Northern Ireland: The Poetry In Between”. Postcolonial and Gender Perspectives in Irish Studies. Ed. Marisol Morales Ladrón. A Coruña: Netbiblo, 2007, pp. 45-64.
Paravisini-Gebert, Lizabeth. Jamaica Kincaid: a critical companion. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1999.
Puri, Shalini. The Caribbean Postcolonial: social equality, post-nationalism, and cultural hybridity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
Thieme, John. Postcolonial Con-Texts: writing back to the canon. London: Continuum, 2001.
CB1, CB2, CB3, CB4, CB5, CG3, CG4, CG5, CG6, CG7, CG8, CG9, CE5, CE6, CE7, CE8, CE9, CE10 of the Approved Report.
Reading, comprehension and analysis of literary texts.
Ability to write a critical essays.
Ability to give oral presentations on literary issues.
Relating literary texts to the society in which they were produced.
Command of the tools and concepts needed for literary analysis.
-Lectures: 2 hours of class per week in which the professor introduces the historical, social and cultural context of the literary texts to be analysed, and provides de theoretical and critical tools for the analysis of the texts.
-Seminars: 1 hour of class per week in which the students analyse of a choice of literary excerpts.
-Tutorial hours (individual and in groups): Discussion of the students' doubts in their assignments.
-Students are expected to attend both lectures and seminars, as well as participate in class for the analysis of literary texts.
-One final oral presentation by the students.
-Autonomous learning activities will be justified at the end of the course: readings of literary criticism, viewing of films or documentaries, attendance at external lectures, etc.
-Use of audiovisual materials and the internet for more information on the writers and their work.
-Use of the USC Virtual Campus for announcements and reading materials.
First opportunity:
-Final exam: 60% of the final mark.
-Tasks (40% of the final mark): One final oral presentation, 25%; Justification ofautonomous learning 15%.
IMPORTANT: Students must get at least the mark 4 (out of 10) in order to have their Tasks mark added to their Exam mark.
Second opportunity (June):
The mark obtained in the Tasks during the course will be maintained for the second opportunity. Students who have not participated in this activity during the course will lose the corresponding 40% of the final mark.
Students who have been exempted from attendance will be assessed on the basis of one final exam which will count 100% of the final mark.
Students who can prove they have a timetable incompatibility and those who are repeating the course, having passed the Tasks mark in the previous year, can choose, before October 1, whether they want to be assessed on the basis of one final exam which will count 100% of their final mark or whether they prefer the standard assessment of 60% (final exam), 25% (final oral presentation) and 15% (autonomous learning). Students repeating the course have the possibility of keeping the Tasks mark from the previous year.
Class attendance: USC regulations will be followed regarding the mandatory attendance at lectures and seminars, as well as the mandatory participation in the scheduled activities. In the case of a JUSTIFIED ABSENCE that is documented and accepted by the teacher or the Dean's Office, an alternative assessment of the missed participation will be assigned. Unjustified absence from class in an assigned activity will imply a mark of 0 in that activity. The maximum number of hours with unjustified absences will be 5; in the case of more than 5 hours of unjustified absences, the students will lose the 40% of the mark that corresponds to the Tasks.
The literary texts must be read in English and the exams and assignments must be written also in English. Correct language use will be taken into account when marking these activities.
For cases of fraudulent conduct in exercises or exams, the USC "Normativa de avaliación do rendemento académico dos estudantes e de revisión de cualificacións" will apply to USC students.
Estimated study time (preparing assignments, reading obligatory texts, autonomous learning, attending office hours and preparing the exam): 99hours.
-Very active participation in class is highly recommended.
-The required literary texts will be read before the corresponding seminar.
-Make a choice of the recommended bibliography in order to broaden your knowledge about the literary period.
-Do both individual and group work.
-Clarify doubts in class and during tutorial hours.
-Complete your understanding of the literary period and its writers by watching films, checking information on the internet, etc.
-A very attentive reading of the stories until you fully understand the details of the plot, characters, socio-historical context, etc.
-Keeping a record of autonomous learning activities for final submission: readings of literary criticism and the socio-cultural context of the stories; viewing of films and documentaries about the writers on the syllabus; attendance at conferences and other activities related to cultural and literary analysis.
E-mails that do not come from the student's corporate address (USC address) will not be answered.
In accordance with the provisions of article 36 of Ley Orgánica del Sistema Universitario (LOSU), which specifies in its section c) among the duties of students: ‘Obervar las directrices del profesorado y de las autoridades universitarias’, the rules for proper performance in the classroom will be as follows:
1- In both expository and interactive classes, the use of mobile phones is not authorised. Tablets or laptops may be used exclusively for taking notes and consulting material on the Virtual Campus.
2- Students are strongly requested to arrive to class on time.
3- Food must not be consumed in the classroom.
4- Students are not allowed to leave the room before the teacher declares the class over, except in cases of unexpected malaise.
Manuela Palacios Gonzalez
Coordinador/a- Department
- English and German Philology
- Area
- English Philology
- Phone
- 881811892
- manuela.palacios [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Lecturer
| Monday | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00-11:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | English | C12 |
| Tuesday | |||
| 09:00-10:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | English | C12 |
| Wednesday | |||
| 10:00-11:00 | Grupo /CLIS_02 (G-O) | English | B13-Video-conference room |
| 11:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLIS_03 (P-Z) | English | B13-Video-conference room |
| 12:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01 (A-F) | English | B13-Video-conference room |
| 01.09.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLE_01 | C11 |
| 01.09.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_01 (A-F) | C11 |
| 01.09.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_02 (G-O) | C11 |
| 01.09.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_03 (P-Z) | C11 |
| 01.09.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLE_01 | C12 |
| 01.09.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_01 (A-F) | C12 |
| 01.09.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_02 (G-O) | C12 |
| 01.09.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_03 (P-Z) | C12 |
| 06.04.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLE_01 | D08 |
| 06.04.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_01 (A-F) | D08 |
| 06.04.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_02 (G-O) | D08 |
| 06.04.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_03 (P-Z) | D08 |