English at Rhodes

Welcome to the Department of English.

English literary studies at Rhodes seeks to develop critical and imaginative thought. The curriculum situates the study of individual works and authors within a general inquiry into cultural history and literary understanding, and exposes students to a variety of analytical orientations. Both in its teaching activities and research activities, the department is guided by the over-arching goals of social enrichment and justice.

The department has a lively culture of learning pursued through lectures and small-group discussions, as well as through research seminars and colloquiums. It regularly hosts visiting academics and writers, and maintains strong links with cognate departments and institutes such as the National English Literary Museum in Grahamstown.

While the undergraduate courses are wide-ranging, postgraduate courses and staff research focus on the fields of Early Modern to Romantic literature, World literature, and Southern African literature.

There are compelling reasons to study English at Rhodes: the university is located in a region known for its diverse and rich literary-cultural traditions; the department enjoys an excellent reputation; the curriculum is responsive to students’ needs and interests; prescribed reading balances the traditional and the new, the local and the international; courses focus on the skills of careful analysis and contextual interpretation; postgraduate students are involved in teaching activities and research presentations; and the academic environment is supportive, pleasant and stimulating.

HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT

TO FOLLOW

ABOUT US

Testimony of Former Honours Student

George Kirkinis

At the end of 2012 I began studying my Masters in literature at the University of Edinburgh (the 11th best university in the world for Humanities, and the world's first ever English department). Studying here has been a challenge, but one that I have felt completely equipped for thanks to the education I received from the English department at Rhodes University. The department has been indispensable to both my growth as an individual and my education as a literary enthusiast. It is filled with amazing, caring professionals who are genuinely passionate about the subject. It retains both a sense of intimacy and personal relation whilst providing a world class education. Not only have I felt adequately prepared to face the academic challenges at the University of Edinburgh but, using purely the analytical skills and guidance provided for me by the English staff at Rhodes, I have managed to somehow land myself near the top of the academic pecking order. My Honours year at Rhodes provided me with ample academic autonomy by allowing me the opportunity to conduct my own research, whilst still retaining the general character of a taught honours program. The world class education provided by world class educators is, however, only half of the attraction. The remainder lies in the mentors that I found in the academic staff during my brief four year period working within the department.

I am completely indebted to the individuals that make up the Rhodes University English department for infecting me with their passion and equipping me with the necessary tools to take this passion abroad to other world class institutions.

George Kirkinis

English Honours class of 2011

Research Seminar: 19 March 2013, Department of English

English Honours Seminar Room

17h15

All welcome

Writing revolution, failing, changing gear: the manuscript revisions of Waiting for the Barbarians

Prof David Attwell

Biography: Prof Attwell is Chair of Modern Literature, Head of the Department of English and Related Literature at the Univeristy of York. He is currently on a two-year Leverhulme Research Fellowship in order to write a critical biography of J. M. Coetzee, focussing on the genesis of the major novels.

‌English Department Research Seminar
14 March 2013
17h15
The Department of English Common Room
All Welcome

Merlin in the North:
History and Prophecy in Medieval Scandinavia
Sometime between 1123 and 1139, in Oxford, a man named Geoffrey of Monmouth
finished an historical work of dubious veracity known as the 'Historia regum Britanniae'
(the 'History of the Kings of Britain'). So popular was the work that some 217
manuscripts containing it have been listed, with about a third of those dating from before
the end of the 12th century. The book was translated into a wide array of languages,
including German, Italian, French, Welsh, and Old Norse. It was a medieval bestseller,
and the foundation upon which almost all subsequent Arthurian material is based.
Embedded in the larger work was a section called the 'Prophetiae Merlini' (the
'Prophecies of Merlin').
This presentation describes and analyses the interface between Old Norse vernacular
literature and Latin historiography. It also examines the variant approaches to history and
fiction that these two traditions maintain. In doing so the presentation illuminates some
of the more interesting facets of Old Norse literature, and also some of the problems
raised by medieval translation theory.

‌

English Department Research Seminar: 28 February 2013, 17h15

Department Common Room

Frontier Fictions: Settler Stories and the Origins of White Guilt

Rebecca Weaver-Hightower (University of North Dakota)

Abstract: In this presentation, Weaver-Hightower will give an overview of her book, Frontier Fictions, which offers a comparative reading of South African, Australian, US, and Canadian books about settlement in what Mary Louise Pratt has called “the contact zone.” Weaver-Hightower will discuss her methodology and process before giving a more detailed reading of her argument, with a focus on 19^th century Anglophone South African literature. In particular, this paper will address the role of literature in managing the guilt and anxiety resulting from settlement by looking at how narratives function like defense mechanisms. This book, Weaver-Hightower will explain, comes from her attempt to address the nagging question of the sources (historical, psychological, and cultural) of what twentieth century conservatives call “white guilt.”

Biography: Rebecca Weaver-Hightower is an Associate Professor of English specializing in postcolonial studies at the University of North Dakota. Her book Empire Islands: Castaways, Cannibals and Fantasies of Conquest (Minnesota 2007), analyzes how island castaway tales presented fantasies that made the expansion of empire more palatable. Her current work analyzes Australian, South African, Canadian, and U.S. frontier literatures for how certain stories helped those cultures to process the guilt from the displacement of indigenous peoples during colonial settlement. She is also currently co-editing a volume on postcolonial film with Peter Hulme entitled Postcolonial Film and has recently co-edited a special journal issue on Australian literature. Weaver-Hightower has published more than a dozen essays on Caribbean, Irish, Australian, African, and British literatures and film; and she is Book Reviews editor of The Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies. She enjoys traveling internationally (most often to South Africa, Australia, and England) to work with dusty old books in archives and learn about the cultures of the places about which she reads and writes.

English at Rhodes

Oxford Award for Excellence

DAVID ATTWELL

RUSSELL COMRIE

Rebecca Weaver-Hightower

THANK YOU

Contact Us

2013 SEMINARS