Last week, Randy Powuels wrote about plans for a course on "African
History through Literature" which, he said, would vary from his usual
approach. Since my usual approach to "Survey History of Africa" is
to teach much of it with African literature, I thought I would
explain what I do. The result is a rather lengthy post, so if you
aren't interested in this subject you may wish to delete now! :-)
My course is an option for history majors, who must take at least
two lower level general surveys such as this and, in addition, must
include two courses in world (ie, not US or European) history within
those taken for their major. It is also a required course for
students taking a minor in African and African-American Studies.
(I also find there are a significant number--sometimes up to 40% of
those enrolled--who are taking the course as an elective.)
In addition to a general text (I have used July and Khapoya, both
without great satisfaction and am contemplating shifting to
Davidson), I always assign four to six works of African literature.
This semester students are reading
Niane, *Sundiata*
Balewa, *Shaihu Umar*
Achebe, *Things Fall Apart*
Ngugi, *Weep Not, Child*
Zeleza, *Smouldering Charcoal*
Zwi, *The Umbrella Tree*
and required to report on five of the six (although they may also do
six reports with only the best five counted in their course grade.)
I have also used other works in the past, such as
Mukasa, *Sir Appolo Kagwa Discovers Britain*
Sepamla, *A Ride on the Whirlwind*
Plaatje, *Mhudi*
Mofolo, *Shaka*
Samkanga, *Year of the Uprising*
Beier (ed.), *Origins of Live and Death*
Abrahams, *Mine Boy*
among others. (Comments on the usefulness of some of these on the
teaching of world, rather than African, history can be found in a
brief article by Charlotte Beahan and myself, "Some African and Asian
Fiction for Teaching World History," in *Teaching History* [Great
Britain, The Historical Association] 44 (Feb 1986):26-29.)
I make an effort to link the literature readings to the general text
and to spread the literature out during the term. For the past two
times I have taught the course, and for the next offering this
summer, I ask students to make their reports in one of four different
formats. Rather than explain them, I will copy that section from the
syllabus: