This biannual learning unit is not being organized in 2023-2024 !
Teacher(s)
Language
French
> English-friendly
> English-friendly
Content
The topic of this seminar for the 2022-2023 academic year will be the plurality of decolonial thinking and criticism, applied to a multilingual (German, English, Spanish, French, Dutch) corpus of selected works.
The problematic core of the seminar is rooted in the following observation: the matrix of colonial domination was not dislocated at the time of formal independence, whether in the early 19th century for Latin America, or in the post-1945 period for the Belgian, British or French colonies. "Coloniality" refers to the global articulation of a 'Western' system of power [Quijano, 2000]. The latter is based on a supposedly natural inferiorisation of non-Western places, human groups, knowledge and subjectivities. This inferiorisation relies on the extraction of resources and the exploitation of labour power, within a logic of extended reproduction of capital. This planetary articulation of 'Western' domination has historically survived colonialism; it operates through contemporary 'civilisational' devices such as the discourses and technologies of development or globalisation. It includes both ontological (coloniality of being) and epistemic (coloniality of knowledge) dimensions, revealing various modalities of Eurocentrism. (Escobar & Restrepo, 2009). The aim of the seminar is to analyze these different forms of coloniality as well as the resistance to it by individuals and communities, based on a multilingual literary corpus.
The critical tradition of postcolonial studies refocused on the point of view of those colonisation has left "voiceless" (Aimé Césaire) - in the wake of the now widely recognised theories of Achille Mbembe, Edward Saïd, Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui or Arturo Escobar (among others) - will constitute the starting point of the seminar's methodological approach. It will be compared with other discourses of 'resistance' on crucial contemporary issues such as: the question of ecology and the commons, possibly in connection with that of feminism (ecofeminism); the diversity of languages (so-called 'major' and 'minor') and the difference in legitimacy given to them (language of the colonizer, languages of the colonised); the social construction of racism and anti-racism, as well as its recent avatars (cancel culture, etc.).
After an introduction to these critical approaches in the first part of the seminar, sub-groups constituted on the basis of a common working language will focus on the analysis of a specific literary corpus; contemporary texts exemplifying decolonial perspectives related to questions of otherness and "connected histories" (or shared history). The last sessions of the seminar will be devoted to students' presentations and discussions on specific research issues. A programme of conferences and visits ("Decolonial identities" Mons) will accompany the seminar.
Arturo Escobar and Eduardo Restrepo, "Hegemonic Anthropologies and Coloniality", Cahiers des Amériques latines [Online], 62 | 2009, online 31 January 2013, accessed 01 June 2022. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/cal/1550 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/cal.1550
The problematic core of the seminar is rooted in the following observation: the matrix of colonial domination was not dislocated at the time of formal independence, whether in the early 19th century for Latin America, or in the post-1945 period for the Belgian, British or French colonies. "Coloniality" refers to the global articulation of a 'Western' system of power [Quijano, 2000]. The latter is based on a supposedly natural inferiorisation of non-Western places, human groups, knowledge and subjectivities. This inferiorisation relies on the extraction of resources and the exploitation of labour power, within a logic of extended reproduction of capital. This planetary articulation of 'Western' domination has historically survived colonialism; it operates through contemporary 'civilisational' devices such as the discourses and technologies of development or globalisation. It includes both ontological (coloniality of being) and epistemic (coloniality of knowledge) dimensions, revealing various modalities of Eurocentrism. (Escobar & Restrepo, 2009). The aim of the seminar is to analyze these different forms of coloniality as well as the resistance to it by individuals and communities, based on a multilingual literary corpus.
The critical tradition of postcolonial studies refocused on the point of view of those colonisation has left "voiceless" (Aimé Césaire) - in the wake of the now widely recognised theories of Achille Mbembe, Edward Saïd, Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui or Arturo Escobar (among others) - will constitute the starting point of the seminar's methodological approach. It will be compared with other discourses of 'resistance' on crucial contemporary issues such as: the question of ecology and the commons, possibly in connection with that of feminism (ecofeminism); the diversity of languages (so-called 'major' and 'minor') and the difference in legitimacy given to them (language of the colonizer, languages of the colonised); the social construction of racism and anti-racism, as well as its recent avatars (cancel culture, etc.).
After an introduction to these critical approaches in the first part of the seminar, sub-groups constituted on the basis of a common working language will focus on the analysis of a specific literary corpus; contemporary texts exemplifying decolonial perspectives related to questions of otherness and "connected histories" (or shared history). The last sessions of the seminar will be devoted to students' presentations and discussions on specific research issues. A programme of conferences and visits ("Decolonial identities" Mons) will accompany the seminar.
Arturo Escobar and Eduardo Restrepo, "Hegemonic Anthropologies and Coloniality", Cahiers des Amériques latines [Online], 62 | 2009, online 31 January 2013, accessed 01 June 2022. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/cal/1550 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/cal.1550
Teaching methods
The first part of the seminar (introductory sessions of the first term) will be taught in French. Historical and theoretical presentations will alternate with workshops where students will be given the opportunity to actively appropriate the theoretical texts and use them to understand literary texts. The following sessions (beginning of the second term) will take place in smaller groups The students will carry out a research project and present it orally and then in writing. Concluding sessions (end of Q2) will encourage comparative approaches to the different geo-cultural areas and literary/theoretical texts. A mixed approach consisting of lectures introducing the theme and workshops allowing students to appropriate the theme through interactive readings of literary texts in the language of their speciality; presentation of students' work; the active participation of all students is required.
Evaluation methods
The assessment will be carried out on the basis of three tasks phased over the year.
Task 1: First progressive work, by 5 January 2023 (30% of the final grade)
Students actively participate in two workshops (Nov.-Dec.) which focus on the deepening of a theoretical text and a literary text. The students will then produce a critical analysis based on this double choice, which will unfold the theoretical reflection they have begun as well as the literary analysis itself. They integrate their reflections into a text of at least 2500 words.
Task 2: Oral and written work in sub-groups (50% of the final grade)
During the second semester, students will be divided into sub-groups determined by the language of the literary corpus studied and the specific problematic chosen by the teacher in charge. Within these groups, the participants will present an oral (before Easter) and then a written (by 15 May) paper of at least 6000 words (excluding bibliography).
Task 3: Pooling (20% of the final grade)
After the Easter holidays, the different sub-groups will be brought together to share the progress of their respective work. It will be important to present the work clearly to the rest of the group, but also and above all to participate in the discussion by creating bridges between the different issues and the different cultural and linguistic traditions.
NB: Language of the written tasks
The language in which the work is written must correspond to the languages studied by the students in their Master's programme. This may vary between task 1 and task 2. In the latter, the language of the assignment corresponds to the language of the literary corpus in the subgroup. The quality of the language is integrated in the different assessments.
The course is labelled as English-friendly but this facility will be reserved for IN mobility students.
Task 1: First progressive work, by 5 January 2023 (30% of the final grade)
Students actively participate in two workshops (Nov.-Dec.) which focus on the deepening of a theoretical text and a literary text. The students will then produce a critical analysis based on this double choice, which will unfold the theoretical reflection they have begun as well as the literary analysis itself. They integrate their reflections into a text of at least 2500 words.
Task 2: Oral and written work in sub-groups (50% of the final grade)
During the second semester, students will be divided into sub-groups determined by the language of the literary corpus studied and the specific problematic chosen by the teacher in charge. Within these groups, the participants will present an oral (before Easter) and then a written (by 15 May) paper of at least 6000 words (excluding bibliography).
Task 3: Pooling (20% of the final grade)
After the Easter holidays, the different sub-groups will be brought together to share the progress of their respective work. It will be important to present the work clearly to the rest of the group, but also and above all to participate in the discussion by creating bridges between the different issues and the different cultural and linguistic traditions.
NB: Language of the written tasks
The language in which the work is written must correspond to the languages studied by the students in their Master's programme. This may vary between task 1 and task 2. In the latter, the language of the assignment corresponds to the language of the literary corpus in the subgroup. The quality of the language is integrated in the different assessments.
The course is labelled as English-friendly but this facility will be reserved for IN mobility students.
Other information
Reading portfolio (reference articles and primary texts) according to the theme(s) addressed; detailed schedule and plan.
Bibliography
Une bibliographie détaillée sur la thématique choisie est mise à la disposition des étudiants.
Faculty or entity
