Seminar-style treatment of a major topic in Comparative Literature. Substantial paper required.

"Do magazines culture?" Rajat Neogy, the founder of Transition magazine, once asked. African literary magazines don’t just shape literary culture, they also offer rebellious responses to political and social movements. This course traces African magazines that have been influential to Black literature and art in the 20th and 21st century. In addition to examining the effects of magazines on literature, we will consider the various functions of the small magazine as a medium, a politics, an art practice, and a unique subculture that is curated though the distinct personalities of its founding editors and the collectives that make up each editorial board. We will encounter well known authors including Wole Soyinka, James Baldwin, Yvonne Owuor, and Binyavanga Wainana, but also familiarize ourselves with equally exciting up and coming writers. The course is centered on print culture, but we will end the semester by exploring how magazines have been transformed, mediated, and re-imagined in the digital space.

The magazine issues and essays that are required reading for the course will be provided. Major assignments will include a class presentation, a short essay, and a zine.

Repeat Rules