BHUM 17A40 - Postcolonial Urban Spaces: Theory and Representation

This course explores how colonial histories continue to shape contemporary urban spaces, particularly in France and Britain. We will engage with key postcolonial thinkers and examine theoretical texts, literature, film, and visual culture that connect the legacy of empire to urban experiences of segregation, marginality and alterity in places like the council estates of London or the concrete high-rises of the French banlieues. In the first half of the course, we will study foundational postcolonial theorists including Edward Said, Frantz Fanon, Stuart Hall, and Paul Gilroy, amongst others, to develop a theoretical framework and critical vocabulary for understanding the intersections between postcolonial thought and the city. The second half of the course will turn to artistic representations of these spaces, focusing on literature and film that capture the experiences of youth, identity and community in marginalized neighbourhoods. Through novels like Faiza Guène's Kiffe kiffe demain (2006) and Guy Gunaratne's In Our Mad and Furious City (2018), as well as films such as La haine (1995) and the miniseries Small Axe (2020), we will explore how cityscapes become lived and symbolic sites of postcolonial tension and resistance. The final session will begin a reflection on how postcolonial frameworks apply to North American urban contexts. It is meant to spark thought about the ways colonial legacies shape cities across the Atlantic. Ultimately, students will gain methodological tools to analyse how colonial pasts continue to resonate in today’s cities as well as a deeper understanding of contemporary urban issues.

There are no prerequisites for this course

In-class essay exam (90 minutes)