FREN 3580

African Sea Routes

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2020-2021.

This survey course will trace narratives of sea crossings in Francophone literature from Africa and its diaspora across the three bodies of water that surround the continent: the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea. It will consider literary and cinematic depictions of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, sea trading in the Caribbean, nuclear experiments in the Chagos islands, and the shipwreck of clandestine migrants in Lampedusa. Through forced displacement or willful journeys, exile or exploration, we will study how these aesthetic works articulate a global consciousness, which has radically redefined what it means to be African, cosmopolitan, and modern, from negritude to créolité and coolitude. Authors include Aimé Césaire, Fatou Diome, Shenaz Patel, Salim Bachi, and others.

When Offered Spring.

Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: FREN 2310 or CASE Q++.

Breadth Requirement (GB)
Distribution Category (CA-AS, ALC-AS)
Language Requirement Satisfies Option 1.

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