Literature and culture today: Reflections on Multiculturalism: Postcolonialism in Contemporary British Literature and Cinema

The aim of the seminar is to familiarise students with texts of culture (literature, film, media) depicting historical, social, and political changes shaping the contemporary multicultural British society.

The seminar offers an overview of postcolonial texts of culture depicting the multicultural British society after 1945. It provides students with the theoretical background necessary for understanding the functioning of the multicultural society and discusses the portrayal of such aspects as race, sexuality and gender, identity, and diaspora in literary fiction and film.

Content distribution:

- postcolonialism, diaspora, and multiculturalism – theoretical introduction

- the history and development of multiculturalism in post-war Britain

- race, racism and multiculturalism

- sexuality and gender in a multicultural society

- hybrid identities

- diaspora communities and their experiences

- British multiculturalism after 9/11 and 7/7

- multiculturalism in the face of Brexit

- the end of multiculturalism?

Materials presented and discussed during class (fragments):

Small Island (BBC, 2009)

East Is East (1999), dir. Damien O’Donnell

My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), dir. Stephen Frears

The Buddha of Suburbia (1990), Hanif Kureishi

Maps for Lost Lovers (2004), Nadeem Aslam

Home Fire (2017), Kamila Samshie

"My Son the Fanatic" (1994) by Hanif Kureishi

selected poems by Daljit Nagra, Patience Agbabi, and Lemn Sissay

selected essays from The Good Immigrant (2016) by Nikesh Shukla (ed.)

“Fences: A Brexit Diary” and "On Optimism and Despair" (2016), Zadie Smith

Further reading:

1. Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. 2007. Post-colonial Studies. The Key Concepts. 2nd edition. London-New York: Routledge.

2. Cohen, Robin. 2008. Global Diasporas. An Introduction. 2nd edition. London-New York: Routledge.

3. Eckstein, Lars, Barbara Korte, Eva Ulrike Pirker, and Chrisoph Reinfandt, eds. 2008. MultiEthnic Britain 2000+. New Perspectives in Literature, Film and the Arts. Leiden: Brill.

4. McLeod, John. 2000. Beginning Postcolonialism. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

5. Lentin, Alana and Gavan Titley. 2011. The Crises of Multiculturalism. Racism in a Neoliberal Age. London-New York: Zed Books.

6. Mullaney, Julie. 2010. Postcolonial Literature in Context. London-New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.

7. Pitcher, Ben. 2009. The Politics of Multiculturalism. Race and Racism in Contemporary Britain. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

8. Solomos, John. 2003. Race and Racism in Britain. 3rd edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

9. Spencer, Ian R. G. 2003. British Immigration Policy since 1939. The Making of Multi-racial Britain. 2nd edition. London-New York: Routledge.

10. Spencer, Stephen. 2006. Race and Ethnicity. Culture, Identity and Representation. London-New York: Routledge.

Teaching methods may include traditional classroom, asynchronous and synchronous methods. In the case of remote learning, USOS mail, Moodle and MS Teams will be used to communicate with students.

The aim of the seminar is to familiarise students with texts of culture (literature, film, media) depicting historical, social, and political changes shaping the contemporary multicultural British society.

The seminar offers an overview of postcolonial texts of culture depicting the multicultural British society after 1945. It provides students with the theoretical background necessary for understanding the functioning of the multicultural society and discusses the portrayal of such aspects as race, sexuality and gender, identity, and diaspora in literary fiction and film.

Content distribution:

- postcolonialism, diaspora, and multiculturalism – theoretical introduction

- the history and development of multiculturalism in post-war Britain

- race, racism and multiculturalism

- sexuality and gender in a multicultural society

- hybrid identities

- diaspora communities and their experiences

- British multiculturalism after 9/11 and 7/7

- multiculturalism in the face of Brexit

- the end of multiculturalism?

Materials presented and discussed during class (fragments):

Small Island (BBC, 2009)

East Is East (1999), dir. Damien O’Donnell

My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), dir. Stephen Frears

London River (2009), dir. Rachid Bouchareb

The Buddha of Suburbia (1990), Hanif Kureishi

Maps for Lost Lovers (2004), Nadeem Aslam

"My Son the Fanatic" (1994) by Hanif Kureishi

selected poems by Daljit Nagra and Patience Agbabi

selected essays from The Good Immigrant (2016) by Nikesh Shukla (ed.)

“Fences: A Brexit Diary” and "On Optimism and Despair" (2016), Zadie Smith

Further reading:

1. Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. 2007. Post-colonial Studies. The Key Concepts. 2nd edition. London-New York: Routledge.

2. Cohen, Robin. 2008. Global Diasporas. An Introduction. 2nd edition. London-New York: Routledge.

3. Eckstein, Lars, Barbara Korte, Eva Ulrike Pirker, and Chrisoph Reinfandt, eds. 2008. MultiEthnic Britain 2000+. New Perspectives in Literature, Film and the Arts. Leiden: Brill.

4. McLeod, John. 2000. Beginning Postcolonialism. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

5. Lentin, Alana and Gavan Titley. 2011. The Crises of Multiculturalism. Racism in a Neoliberal Age. London-New York: Zed Books.

6. Mullaney, Julie. 2010. Postcolonial Literature in Context. London-New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.

7. Pitcher, Ben. 2009. The Politics of Multiculturalism. Race and Racism in Contemporary Britain. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

8. Solomos, John. 2003. Race and Racism in Britain. 3rd edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

9. Spencer, Ian R. G. 2003. British Immigration Policy since 1939. The Making of Multi-racial Britain. 2nd edition. London-New York: Routledge.

10. Spencer, Stephen. 2006. Race and Ethnicity. Culture, Identity and Representation. London-New York: Routledge.

Teaching methods may include traditional classroom, asynchronous and synchronous methods. In the case of remote learning, USOS mail, Moodle and MS Teams will be used to communicate with students.