Friday, July 11, 2008

Great Meeting on July 10!

Great job yesterday everyone!

We did a good job covering some essential information such as the international student ID card, course registration, and the blog. If you have any questions about any of these items, feel free to email me.

In terms of Cesaire and Senghor, we discussed some important themes to begin our study. Neither Cesaire nor Senghor fit the rest of our course content in terms of geography, religion, or era. But, they do represent authors from French colonies who resisted the French government but in doing so became part of the French literary canon and National Assembly.

In addition, we began a discussion of "negritude," a contested and dynamic term that refers to an essential connection between those around the world who have African roots. For Senghor it is the spirit of being African. As we move forward, we should consider "negritude" as an example of an essential connection amongst people that is antithetical to Western values of rationalism, science, technology, militarism, individuality, and Christianity. I would like to propose that we compare "negritude" to the literature we will focus on and if there may be a comparable idea in our primary texts.

Let me know if you have any questions!

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