Postcolonial Anglophone Cultures I
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The course draws on the tools of Cultural and Postcolonial Studies to provide an analysis of cultural production and expressive practices in Anglophone countries, particularly popular creative forms and narratives. Specifically, the course will focus on imperial legacy and the cultures of the Commonwealth, exploring the artistic and cultural expressions of former British colonies and protectorates. It will also retrace the formation and reshaping of local identities during the transition from the empire to the construction of nation-states, and the way this process affected the various fields of artistic production. At a methodological level, the course will focus on the study of inclusive and plural mechanisms and narratives, to shed light on the instances that, in colonised countries, sparked an identity-reshaping process affecting various aspects of culture and language. The goal is to foster an advanced understanding and critical awareness of the mechanisms at work in the British Commonwealth and the former colonies, and to provide students with adequate methodological tools to interact effectively in English within inclusive and diversity-valuing environments.
Learning objectives include:
- advanced knowledge and critical understanding of a variety of Anglophone cultural practices, textual and artistic products (both spontaneous and codified) on diversity-related topics and the connected processes of cultural hybridisation;
- fruitful application of the tools of Cultural and Postcolonial Studies to the context of contemporary Anglophone countries, along with the ability to trace the historical developments that contributed to shaping current issues related to the topics covered during the course;
- the ability to apply the knowledge acquired during Bachelor's studies (regarding the notions of otherness, decolonisation, immigration, diaspora, and the contemporary age) to investigate concepts such as race, ethnicity, multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism, power, ideology, hegemony, discursive practices and consensus-building;
- the ability to critically analyse communication models across various media under the lens of identity, inclusivity and diversity, combined with the ability to identify good and bad practices in the contemporary context, supported by reasoned evaluations;
- the ability to research, select, summarise and compare relevant information, and to debate in the classroom/in groups on the texts and topics studied;
- the ability to formulate independent and critically reasoned judgements on a variety of cultural products and literary texts;
- the ability to compare and draw correlations between different contexts related to class, ethnicity, gender and the like, with a view to developing a pragmatic and authentic awareness of what it means to respect and include diverse identities.
Learning objectives include:
- advanced knowledge and critical understanding of a variety of Anglophone cultural practices, textual and artistic products (both spontaneous and codified) on diversity-related topics and the connected processes of cultural hybridisation;
- fruitful application of the tools of Cultural and Postcolonial Studies to the context of contemporary Anglophone countries, along with the ability to trace the historical developments that contributed to shaping current issues related to the topics covered during the course;
- the ability to apply the knowledge acquired during Bachelor's studies (regarding the notions of otherness, decolonisation, immigration, diaspora, and the contemporary age) to investigate concepts such as race, ethnicity, multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism, power, ideology, hegemony, discursive practices and consensus-building;
- the ability to critically analyse communication models across various media under the lens of identity, inclusivity and diversity, combined with the ability to identify good and bad practices in the contemporary context, supported by reasoned evaluations;
- the ability to research, select, summarise and compare relevant information, and to debate in the classroom/in groups on the texts and topics studied;
- the ability to formulate independent and critically reasoned judgements on a variety of cultural products and literary texts;
- the ability to compare and draw correlations between different contexts related to class, ethnicity, gender and the like, with a view to developing a pragmatic and authentic awareness of what it means to respect and include diverse identities.
Expected learning outcomes
This course will guide students in investigating the concept of identity in relation to contemporary post- and neo-colonial English-speaking cultures, as well as to the multiple influences, ideologies, religions and cultural practices which have developed over time during the decolonisation process and the formation of nation-states. This is in line with the goal of the Master's degree programme as a whole, which is to enhance the linguistic and cultural mediation skills acquired by students during the previous three-year programme. Students are also expected to learn how to identify the most suitable critical categories and methods of Cultural and Postcolonial Studies to analyse the proposed cultural products. By the end of the course, students should possess not only adequate language skills, but also an array of methodological tools allowing them to critically select, organise and interpret various types of contemporary textual productions, including media, performative, musical, and literary texts. Moreover, they should also be able to identify the constituent parts of a text, in order to deconstruct it and learn to reproduce similar structures. Teamwork will be an integral part of the course, so students are expected to learn to organise their work and collaborate in English.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
TITLE: On the land of arrival. Mediating between cultures and languages in the Anglophone worlds
The course works on how the British Empire and its gradual dissolution produced an impact on former colonies and more specifically on the increasing migration flow to what is still perceived as a "safe place". Within the context of the migratory journey, the land of arrival is not a final destination but a liminal territory where different cultures converge and collide. Following the methods of cultural studies, we will articulate the meaning of such keywords as discourse, power, ethnicity, mimicry, third space, inbetween space, identity, belonging. Exploiting theories by Stuart Hall, H.K. Bhabha, Paul Gilroy, M. Inghilleri, Loredana Polezzi and many others, we will work on translation, cultural translation, mediation, representation and the shaping of new identities
MIGRATION AND TRANSLATION (20 HRS)
The unit is focused on migration as a process of translation working at several levels. Code-switching is only a small part of what happens to migrants once they get to a place where they expect to be relocated. Other more complex factors have to be taken into account, and they are often related to the culture and the social and political system operational in the country of arrival.
PRISONS (20 HRS)
Refugee camps and migrant detention centres often overlap. They are both designed to manage populations in transit, and they should differ in purpose and conditions. However, at a close look, they seem to posit serious humanitarian concerns. First-hand testimony often show the many ways in which they overlap, even when they take different names and shapes.
BORDERS (20HRS)
This unit investigates the evolving nature of borders, moving beyond the notion of "fixed lines on a map" to explore them as dynamic postcolonial social constructs, mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, sites of cultural negotiation, and zones of (new) identity formation. Drawing on perspectives from Border Studies and Cultural Studies, we will examine how borders operate not simply geopolitical demarcations but also as complex cultural and epistemic formations -"borderscapes" that shape, control, and resist contemporary regimes of power and belonging-, "Third Spaces" or "borderlands" that are generative, zones of cultural hybridity, creativity, and solidarity that challenge dominant/imperialist structures.
The course works on how the British Empire and its gradual dissolution produced an impact on former colonies and more specifically on the increasing migration flow to what is still perceived as a "safe place". Within the context of the migratory journey, the land of arrival is not a final destination but a liminal territory where different cultures converge and collide. Following the methods of cultural studies, we will articulate the meaning of such keywords as discourse, power, ethnicity, mimicry, third space, inbetween space, identity, belonging. Exploiting theories by Stuart Hall, H.K. Bhabha, Paul Gilroy, M. Inghilleri, Loredana Polezzi and many others, we will work on translation, cultural translation, mediation, representation and the shaping of new identities
MIGRATION AND TRANSLATION (20 HRS)
The unit is focused on migration as a process of translation working at several levels. Code-switching is only a small part of what happens to migrants once they get to a place where they expect to be relocated. Other more complex factors have to be taken into account, and they are often related to the culture and the social and political system operational in the country of arrival.
PRISONS (20 HRS)
Refugee camps and migrant detention centres often overlap. They are both designed to manage populations in transit, and they should differ in purpose and conditions. However, at a close look, they seem to posit serious humanitarian concerns. First-hand testimony often show the many ways in which they overlap, even when they take different names and shapes.
BORDERS (20HRS)
This unit investigates the evolving nature of borders, moving beyond the notion of "fixed lines on a map" to explore them as dynamic postcolonial social constructs, mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, sites of cultural negotiation, and zones of (new) identity formation. Drawing on perspectives from Border Studies and Cultural Studies, we will examine how borders operate not simply geopolitical demarcations but also as complex cultural and epistemic formations -"borderscapes" that shape, control, and resist contemporary regimes of power and belonging-, "Third Spaces" or "borderlands" that are generative, zones of cultural hybridity, creativity, and solidarity that challenge dominant/imperialist structures.
Prerequisites for admission
Ss must have some familiarity with the core concept of cultural studies or related research field (sociology, anthropology and the like). Adequate fluency in English is required. A working knowledge of Italian is very welcome
Teaching methods
Classes will be built on a collaborative method, occasionally involving guest-speakers. Ss are supposed to develop team-working abilities as to train them for the professional profile they are expected to acquire. Through close reading, writing, and class discussion, students will work on issues such as colonialism and postcolonialism, migration, identity, power, location and relocation, belonging. They are also required to share the output of their teamwork with classmates. They are to participate actively through the proposed in-class team activities (presentations, case-studies, discussions of particular topics, flipped classroom activities).
Teaching Resources
MIGRATION & TRANSLATION (20 HRS)
Case Studies:
Fedda, Yasmine, Dir., Queens of Syria. UK. (2014, Documentary film)
Anders Lustgarten, Lampedusa (2015; play)
Mahmoud Darwis, Who Am I without exile? (2008; poem) https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52549/who-am-i-without-exile
Shire, Warsan, Conversation about Home (2011; poem)
Saint Levant, From Gaza with Love (2023; song)
Saint Levant, 5 am in Paris (2024; song)
Tools and methods (Migration & translation + Borders)
Bertacco, Simona, & Nicoletta Vallorani, The relocation of culture. Literatures, cultures, translation. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. (Selection of passages from Introduction & ch. 3)
Bhabha Homi K., The Location of Culture, London & New York, Routledge, 1994 (excerpts)
Hall, Stuart, "Minimal Selves", in Lisa Appignanesi (ed.) Identity: The Real Me, ICA Document 6, London: ICA, 1988, pp. 44-6.
Polezzi, Loredana, "Translation and Migration", Translation Studies, 2012, pp. 345-368
Vallorani, Nicoletta, "Travelling Muses: Women, Ancient Grammars and Contemporary ARTivism in Refugees' Tales," Lingue e linguaggi, 64, 2024, 15-30.
NON FREQUENTANTI
Queens of Syria is not included in the syllabus
Bhabha Homi K., The Location of Culture, London & New York, Routledge, 1994 (Chs 1, 2 & 3)
PRISONS (20HRS)
Case Studies
Boochani, Behrouz, No Friend but the Mountains: The True Story of an Illegally Imprisoned Refugee, 2019, London: Picador. (excerpts)
Jacir Emily, A Mediterranean Via Crucis (installation, 2016)
Amnesty International, Israel/OPT: Two months of humanitarian aid ban in Gaza is genocide in action - harrowing testimonies from residents, 2 May 2025
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/israelopt-two-months-humanitarian-aid-ban-gaza-genocide-action-harrowing-testimonies
Tools and methods
Bertacco, Simona, & Nicoletta Vallorani. 2021. The relocation of culture. Literatures, cultures, translation. New York: Bloomsbury Academic. Selection of passages from ch. 1
Galetto Manuela, Chiara Martucci, & Nirmal Puwar, "Space invaders: "Dissonant bodies" in positions of power: A conversation with Nirmal Puwar
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/13675494241265607?fbclid=IwY2xjawKpugVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHojAr52APT9rvf_l0Cod0dYodowG-B8wFImz_9xM_j-QrEF-uth3TJQUGoAz_aem_sBVRNUfEROvwbX1NOTUo0g
Gilroy, Paul, "Lecture I. Suffering and Infrahumanity." In Tanner Lectures on Human Values, Yale (USA): Yale University, 2014.
NON FREQUENTANTI:
Full reading of: Boochani, Behrouz, No Friend but the Mountains: The True Story of an Illegally Imprisoned Refugee, 2019, London: Picador.
BORDERS (20 HRS)
Tools and methods:
See unit 1 and unit 2
Case studies:
All texts will be included in an online booklet:
Poems: "Look, We Have Coming to Dover!" and "In a White Town" by Daljit Nagra (2007); "Refugee Blues" by W. H. Auden (1939); "Here Stand Before Us the North and the South" by Theresa Lola (2024);
Novels (excerpts): Lustgarten, Anders, Three Burials (2024); Smith, Zadie, White Teeth (2000); Farah, Nuruddin, Maps (1986); Emecheta, Buchi, Destination Biafra (1983); Hosseini, Khaled, Kite Runner (2003)
Art: Francis Alӱs, "The Nightwatch 2024", video, two maps, printed papers, seven drawings and book, duration 19:00 minutes, 234x284x60, Tate London https://francisalys.com/the-nightwatch/; "The Calais Jungle" (photographs by Rob Pinney https://www.robpinney.com/the-calais-jungle); Mona Hatoum, "Exodus II 2002", compressed card, leather, metal, human hair, TATE, London; Tania Bruguera, "Tatlin's Whisper #5", 2008, performance, TATE MODERN, London https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7L1s_GWn3o; Issam Kourbaj, "Precarious Passage" (2016/2023) and "Dark Water, Burning World" (2016), British Museum, London; Tam Joseph "The Hand Made Map of the World" (2013), Shilpa Gupta, There is no border here (2006).
Songs: "One Day I Went to Lidl" Afrikan Boy (2021); "Hussel" M.I.A. ft Afrikan Boy (2007)
Newspaper article: the Scramble for Africa, the Times 1884
Play: Hutchinson, R. "Durand's Line" (2009) in AAVV, The Great Game Afghanistan, Oberon Modern Plays (2009), pp. 31-48
NON frequentanti:
a. Entries "Border as Method", "Border Thinking", "Borderlands", "Borderscapes" e "Migration" from "Border studies, digital glossary", https://center-border-studies.uni-gr.eu/en/ressources/glossary-entries
b. A Chronology of the History of Nigeria and Afghanistan (1850 to the Present).
NIGERIA: 1830 Richard Lander's expedition, 1854 William Baikie's expedition, the formation of the Nation and the Scramble for Africa 1884, 1963 the Independence and the Commonwealth, the post-independence years, the colonial rule, the Nigerian Civil War and the Republic of Biafra, oil wars, present entrenched corruption, socioeconomic inequality and security threats in contemporary Nigeria
AFGHANISTAN: the Great Game, 1893, the three Anglo-Afghan Wars, 1919-1973, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the withdrawal of the communist regime, The Taliban regime, 9/11, 2011 - President Obama announces the death of Osama Bin Laden, The new Taliban regime from August 2021 on
Case Studies:
Fedda, Yasmine, Dir., Queens of Syria. UK. (2014, Documentary film)
Anders Lustgarten, Lampedusa (2015; play)
Mahmoud Darwis, Who Am I without exile? (2008; poem) https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52549/who-am-i-without-exile
Shire, Warsan, Conversation about Home (2011; poem)
Saint Levant, From Gaza with Love (2023; song)
Saint Levant, 5 am in Paris (2024; song)
Tools and methods (Migration & translation + Borders)
Bertacco, Simona, & Nicoletta Vallorani, The relocation of culture. Literatures, cultures, translation. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. (Selection of passages from Introduction & ch. 3)
Bhabha Homi K., The Location of Culture, London & New York, Routledge, 1994 (excerpts)
Hall, Stuart, "Minimal Selves", in Lisa Appignanesi (ed.) Identity: The Real Me, ICA Document 6, London: ICA, 1988, pp. 44-6.
Polezzi, Loredana, "Translation and Migration", Translation Studies, 2012, pp. 345-368
Vallorani, Nicoletta, "Travelling Muses: Women, Ancient Grammars and Contemporary ARTivism in Refugees' Tales," Lingue e linguaggi, 64, 2024, 15-30.
NON FREQUENTANTI
Queens of Syria is not included in the syllabus
Bhabha Homi K., The Location of Culture, London & New York, Routledge, 1994 (Chs 1, 2 & 3)
PRISONS (20HRS)
Case Studies
Boochani, Behrouz, No Friend but the Mountains: The True Story of an Illegally Imprisoned Refugee, 2019, London: Picador. (excerpts)
Jacir Emily, A Mediterranean Via Crucis (installation, 2016)
Amnesty International, Israel/OPT: Two months of humanitarian aid ban in Gaza is genocide in action - harrowing testimonies from residents, 2 May 2025
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/israelopt-two-months-humanitarian-aid-ban-gaza-genocide-action-harrowing-testimonies
Tools and methods
Bertacco, Simona, & Nicoletta Vallorani. 2021. The relocation of culture. Literatures, cultures, translation. New York: Bloomsbury Academic. Selection of passages from ch. 1
Galetto Manuela, Chiara Martucci, & Nirmal Puwar, "Space invaders: "Dissonant bodies" in positions of power: A conversation with Nirmal Puwar
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/13675494241265607?fbclid=IwY2xjawKpugVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHojAr52APT9rvf_l0Cod0dYodowG-B8wFImz_9xM_j-QrEF-uth3TJQUGoAz_aem_sBVRNUfEROvwbX1NOTUo0g
Gilroy, Paul, "Lecture I. Suffering and Infrahumanity." In Tanner Lectures on Human Values, Yale (USA): Yale University, 2014.
NON FREQUENTANTI:
Full reading of: Boochani, Behrouz, No Friend but the Mountains: The True Story of an Illegally Imprisoned Refugee, 2019, London: Picador.
BORDERS (20 HRS)
Tools and methods:
See unit 1 and unit 2
Case studies:
All texts will be included in an online booklet:
Poems: "Look, We Have Coming to Dover!" and "In a White Town" by Daljit Nagra (2007); "Refugee Blues" by W. H. Auden (1939); "Here Stand Before Us the North and the South" by Theresa Lola (2024);
Novels (excerpts): Lustgarten, Anders, Three Burials (2024); Smith, Zadie, White Teeth (2000); Farah, Nuruddin, Maps (1986); Emecheta, Buchi, Destination Biafra (1983); Hosseini, Khaled, Kite Runner (2003)
Art: Francis Alӱs, "The Nightwatch 2024", video, two maps, printed papers, seven drawings and book, duration 19:00 minutes, 234x284x60, Tate London https://francisalys.com/the-nightwatch/; "The Calais Jungle" (photographs by Rob Pinney https://www.robpinney.com/the-calais-jungle); Mona Hatoum, "Exodus II 2002", compressed card, leather, metal, human hair, TATE, London; Tania Bruguera, "Tatlin's Whisper #5", 2008, performance, TATE MODERN, London https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7L1s_GWn3o; Issam Kourbaj, "Precarious Passage" (2016/2023) and "Dark Water, Burning World" (2016), British Museum, London; Tam Joseph "The Hand Made Map of the World" (2013), Shilpa Gupta, There is no border here (2006).
Songs: "One Day I Went to Lidl" Afrikan Boy (2021); "Hussel" M.I.A. ft Afrikan Boy (2007)
Newspaper article: the Scramble for Africa, the Times 1884
Play: Hutchinson, R. "Durand's Line" (2009) in AAVV, The Great Game Afghanistan, Oberon Modern Plays (2009), pp. 31-48
NON frequentanti:
a. Entries "Border as Method", "Border Thinking", "Borderlands", "Borderscapes" e "Migration" from "Border studies, digital glossary", https://center-border-studies.uni-gr.eu/en/ressources/glossary-entries
b. A Chronology of the History of Nigeria and Afghanistan (1850 to the Present).
NIGERIA: 1830 Richard Lander's expedition, 1854 William Baikie's expedition, the formation of the Nation and the Scramble for Africa 1884, 1963 the Independence and the Commonwealth, the post-independence years, the colonial rule, the Nigerian Civil War and the Republic of Biafra, oil wars, present entrenched corruption, socioeconomic inequality and security threats in contemporary Nigeria
AFGHANISTAN: the Great Game, 1893, the three Anglo-Afghan Wars, 1919-1973, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the withdrawal of the communist regime, The Taliban regime, 9/11, 2011 - President Obama announces the death of Osama Bin Laden, The new Taliban regime from August 2021 on
Assessment methods and Criteria
Assessment is exam-based. The course has a modular structure and there is a test for each element of the course. Midterm exams are however optional and address mostly attending students. Whoever chooses, can sit for the oral exam and be interviewed on the whole of the syllabus. The exam is to be taken in English. The assessment will consider also class participation and engagement (10%) and Group presentation (20 %)
L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professors:
Monegato Emanuele, Vallorani Nicoletta
Professor(s)