COURSE DESCRIPTION

The course offers a comparative perspective on postcolonialism and postcommunism against the epistemic background of late modernity/postmodernity, an age when the old political and economic scaffolding of both capitalist and communist empires collapses only to give way to new forms of domination. Hence, the course treats former colonies and former satellite communist states as siblings of subalter(n)ity. The aim is to highlight generic and structural similarities between traumatized post-imperialist cultures, on the one hand, and historical and ideological differences, on the other. Also, I am expecting that, by the end of the course, students will be able to import some methodological instruments of postcolonial criticism into the study of postcommunism, as well as to use postcommunist scholarship as an ideological moderator for the hegemonic first/third-world-oriented discourses in postcolonialism.

While theoretical and methodological reflexivity is thoroughly pursued in the various sessions, efforts are made to offer a lively picture of postcommunist discourse in Romania by means of memorable and stylistically consummate texts by foremost Romanian authors. They are always to be approached contrastively, with a view to the aims outlined above.

The agenda of this course is to rekindle the militant relevance and political involvement of cultural studies in the new context of postcommunist Romania. Postcolonial criticism has always been an effort on behalf of minor/marginal cultures not only to expose and understand the way in which a hegemonic center subdued and manipulated the development of their identity, but also to resist that pressure and rectify their situation. By turning the critical lens of cultural studies on Romania’s own recent history as a marginalized and abused culture, the course is prompting students to engage their own colonized identities and to take a stance in terms of cultural politics.

Thursday, March 12, 2020

CLASSES SUSPENDED TILL 31 MARCH

As you have probably heard, the University has decided to suspend face-to-face classed until 31 March.
I will find an alternative solution for our classes and will post the information on this site.
Please ”stay tuned”. Also, be vigilent, but calm and reasonable.

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