UFH Department of English Postgraduate Courses

ENGLISH HONOURS

The English Honours qualification comprises four (4) CORE modules and one (1) ELECTIVE from a menu of ten (10). The four core modules are designed to locate the student in a South African and Pan- African context, as well as provide a theoretical and methodological framework for further academic study in the discipline of English Language and Comparative Literature. Although the student has ten electives to choose from, this would be subject to the availability of a staff member to teach a particular elective. In summary, to complete the English Honours qualification the student must read for all four (4) CORE modules and one (1) ELECTIVE. UFH Department of English Postgraduate Courses

ECL501/501E African Literature

Elective/Core: Core

Purpose: To introduce learners to the African meta-theory as a basis for the requisite development of an African centre as an anchor on which to interrogate texts.

Contents: Various texts providing a survey of the pan-African ideal and its concomitant challenges from the pre-colonial period to the post-independence dispensation.

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ECL502/502E South African Literature

Elective/Core: Core

Purpose: To encourage learners to examine South African Literature using the full range of skills acquired in their undergraduate years, and to expand their knowledge of the literature. This is based on the assumption that the task of reconstructing the post-apartheid society will involve acts of textual interpretation rooted in historical memory.

Contents: Various South African literary texts by luminaries such as E’skia Mphahlele, Can Themba, Lewis Nkosi, Lauretta Ngcobo, Miriam Tlali, Wally Serote, Njabulo Ndebele and Mbulelo Mzamane, together with theoretical discourses and other works.

See Also: UFH Department of English and Comparative Studies Undergraduate Courses

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ECL503/503E Literary Theory

Elective/Core: Core

Purpose:  To expose learners to the history of literary theory in English and to the basic questions posed by literary theory, and to encourage the practices arising out of such theory.

Contents:  Various critical texts from Plato to the present and discussions of these.

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ECL504/504E Research Project

Elective/Core: Core

Purpose: To allow learners to pursue their own interests and oblige them to develop and display their research skills at postgraduate level.

Contents: Learner decides him/herself, under departmental supervision.

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ECL505/505E Ancient Period to the Renaissance

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose:  To allow learners to survey the development of literature up to the beginnings of the modern era.

Contents:  A large number of texts from the earliest Mesopotamian and Mediterranean cultures to the Shakespearean period.

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ECL506/506E Neoclassical to Realism and Naturalism

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To allow learners to survey the development of literature in the formative period of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Contents: A large number of texts from the period, with background and critical readings.

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ECL507/507E Modern and Contemporary Period

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To allow learners to examine recent literature and its immediate origins.

Contents: Various texts from the twentieth century, with background and critical readings.

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ECL508/508E The African Diaspora

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: Learners investigate the impact of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the “peculiar institution” of slavery, at postgraduate level.

Contents: Works by African-American and Caribbean icons such as Equiano, Phyllis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, WEB du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Sojourner Truth and Alex Hailey, among others, in addition to interpretative texts.

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ECL509/509E Literature of the LACAAP countries

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To give learners an in-depth study of leading works of literature from Latin American, Caribbean, Asian, Australian and Pacific countries. Learners are familiarised with significant literary developments in these countries as well as examining current literary trends. The focus is also on specific areas of critical theory, including post-colonial theory, that equip learners with analytical tools that are particularly relevant to a study of the prescribed texts. UFH Department of English Postgraduate Courses

Contents: A cross-section of works of fiction and poetry by leading LACAAP writers, from long-established works of literature to cutting-edge contemporary texts.

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ECL500/500E Orature — Comparative Perspectives

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To encourage learners to investigate orature as an agent of social transformation and perform their own research into this at postgraduate level.

Contents: A wide variety of relevant works of orature and theoretical studies within the discourse.

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ECL512/512E Creative Writing or Translation

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To develop advanced creative writing ability or translation skills at postgraduate level. The creative writing or translation work produced by the end of this module should be suitable for publication.

Contents:  Learners work independently, developing creative capacity or translation skills, towards the production of either a book-length portfolio of creative writing or a body of work translated from an African language (isiXhosa, seSotho, isiZulu, Afrikaans, etc.) into English. The lecturer supervises and acts as editor.

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ECL513/513E Special Topic

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To allow learners to pursue their own interests and develop their research skills in a context less challenging and intimidating than that of a full Honours dissertation.

Contents: Learner decides him/herself, under supervision.

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ECL514/514E Advanced Studies in General Linguistics

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To allow learners to do extensive research into the study of the English language.

Contents:  Various linguistic materials, some developed by the learner.

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ECL515/515E Advanced Studies in Applied Linguistics

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To allow learners to do extensive research into how the English language is applied in practice.

Content:  Various linguistic materials, some developed by the learner.

Prerequisites: ECL300/ECL300E or equivalent.

ENGLISH MASTERS BY COURSE WORK (MA in Pan-African Letters)

ECL701/701E Pan Africanism and Cultural Affirmation

Elective/Core: Core

Purpose: To allow learners to study the Pan African movement from the formation of the  Pan African Congress in 1900 to the present, and the literature inspired by Pan Africanism

Contents: Chiefly autobiographies and polemic writing, with other material aimed at  unravelling the circumstances which necessitated the evolution of Pan Africanism.

Prerequisites: ECL500 or equivalent.

ECL702/702E Critical Theory and Research Methodology

Elective/Core: Core

Purpose: To build a learner’s capacity in performing individual research informed by critical theories of her/his choice.

Contents:  A research project of the learner’s choice and a survey of contemporary critical theories.

Prerequisites: ECL500 or equivalent.

ECL703/703E Southern Africa

Elective/Core: Core

Purpose: To allow learners to explore Southern African literature and its associated  elements, and provide them with an authentic cultural centre from which to view  their world.

Contents: A wide variety of relevant primary and secondary literature, serving to explore  the Southern African experience and the historical conjunctures that speak to the relativity of human experience and the specificities of Southern Africa.

Prerequisites: ECL500 or equivalent.

ECL704/704E Mini Dissertation

Elective/Core: Core

Purpose: To allow learners to pursue their own interests while perfecting their research skills under supervision.

Contents: Learner decides him/herself, under departmental supervision.

Prerequisites: ECL500 or equivalent.

ECL705/705E Literature in Africa (Orature and Fiction)

Elective/Core: Elective.

Purpose:  To allow learners to develop original concepts in the field of African orature and fiction.

Contents:  A broad range of appropriate primary and secondary texts.

Prerequisites: ECL500 or equivalent.

ECL706/706E Literature in Africa (Drama and Poetry)

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To allow learners to develop original concepts in the field of African drama and poetry.

Contents: A broad range of appropriate primary and secondary texts.

Prerequisites: ECL500 or equivalent.

ECL707/707E African-Caribbean Literature

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To allow learners to develop original concepts in the field of African- Caribbean literature.

Contents: A broad range of appropriate primary and secondary texts.

Prerequisites: ECL500 or equivalent.

ECL708/708E African-American Literature

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To allow learners to develop original concepts in the field of African-American literature.

Contents: A broad range of appropriate primary and secondary texts.

Prerequisites: ECL500 or equivalent.

ECL709/709E African Diaspora in Britain, Canada, Germany, France, etc.

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To develop learners’ advanced understanding of the impact of forced migration on people of African descent currently residing in these countries.

Contents:  A selection of significant texts in the field, including autobiography, poetry and fiction by authors such as Sam Selvon and George Lamming.

Prerequisites: ECL500 or equivalent.

ECL711/711E Race, Class and Gender in Pan African Literature

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To develop learners’ advanced understanding of the interplay of race, class and   gender issues in Pan-African literature, through investigating relevant theoretical tools (such as postcolonial theory, second-wave feminisms and  womanism) enabling learners to embark on independent analyses of appropriate texts or other appropriate investigative subjects.

Contents:  A selection of significant Pan-African literary texts and relevant works of critical theory.

Prerequisites: ECL500 or equivalent.

ECL722/722E Post-Coloniality as Theory and Praxis

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To develop a learner’s understanding of the practical meaning of all theory, and  particularly of post-colonial theory and the context in which it may be applied in  work and life.

Contents: A broad range of appropriate primary and secondary texts.

Prerequisites: ECL500 or equivalent.

ECL712/712E Special Topic

Elective/Core: Elective

Purpose: To allow learners to pursue their own interests and develop their research skills  in a context less challenging and intimidating than that of a full MA dissertation.

Contents: Learner decides him/herself, under appropriate supervision.

Prerequisites: ECL500 or equivalent.

ENGLISH MASTERS AND DOCTORAL DEGREES BY RESEARCH

ECL 700     A Masters degree in English by research is offered to suitable candidates.

Research topics for these degrees are chosen in consultation with the Head of Department and are subject to the final approval by the Faculty Research and Higher Degrees Committee.

ECL 900  A Doctoral degree in English by research is offered to suitable candidates.

Research topics for these degrees are chosen in consultation with the Head of Department and are subject to the final approval by the Faculty Research and Higher Degrees Committee.