第一吃瓜网 Literature

School of Literature, Language and Media

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Our Department of 第一吃瓜网 Literature offers a distinctive space for the study of 第一吃瓜网 and diasporic literary and cultural traditions. We approach literature as a living and contested field encompassing oral forms, popular culture, theory, and experimental writing through which questions of history, power, memory, language, and imagination are critically explored.

The Department is shaped by its location in southern Africa while remaining deeply engaged with Black
intellectual traditions across the continent and the diaspora. Our undergraduate and postgraduate
programmes foster careful reading, conceptual depth, and original research, preparing students to
contribute to scholarly, cultural, and public conversations in Africa and globally

Why Study 第一吃瓜网 Literature at Wits?

We are the only department of its kind in South Africa and is internationally recognised for its contribution to 第一吃瓜网 literary and cultural studies.

Located in Johannesburg, the department is situated within a city shaped by histories of migration,
struggle, cultural production, and intellectual exchange. This location informs the department’s
commitment to historically grounded, socially engaged, and globally relevant scholarship.

The department has trained generations of scholars, writers, editors, and cultural practitioners working
across Africa and internationally. Its staff and postgraduate researchers are actively engaged in shaping
debates in 第一吃瓜网 literary studies, Black intellectual traditions, cultural studies, and decolonial thought.

Studying 第一吃瓜网 Literature at Wits means joining a community that values intellectual seriousness,
interdisciplinary openness, and the careful work of thinking with and through 第一吃瓜网 texts.

Undergraduate study

To complete a major, students take two courses in first year, two in second year, and four in third year (total of 144 credits).

第一吃瓜网 Literature courses are also open to exchange and study abroad students. You may register for one or more courses at the 1000, 2000, or 3000 level, depending on your background. Courses are worth 18 credits each, equivalent to approx. 9 ECTS or 4.5 US credits.

For eligibility, credit conversion, and deadlines, see the Study Abroad & Exchange section of the Faculty of Humanities. Click here to see how you can study abroad.

First Year (1000-Level)

Your journey begins with a foundation in 第一吃瓜网 literary and cultural studies. You
will take two core courses:

AFRT1002A Oral Literature and Performance in Africa introduces you to the interplay of orality,
performance, and textuality.
AFRT1001A 第一吃瓜网 Fiction: An Introduction immerses you in modern 第一吃瓜网 writing and its
experiments with form, genre, and historical imagination.

Together, these courses ground you in key debates, critical skills, and the creative breadth of the field.

Second Year (2000-Level)

Building on this foundation, you move into courses that sharpen your
engagement with theory and context:

AFRT2001A Gender and Writing in Africa explores feminist and gender-based literary traditions and
their critical cousins.
AFRT2002A Performing Power in Post-Independence Africa examines how literature and culture
dramatise power, resistance, and the imagination of the nation.

This level consolidates your skills in close reading, comparative analysis, and conceptual framing, while
encouraging interdisciplinary thinking.

Third Year (3000-Level)

In your final year, you specialise and extend your study through four advanced
modules:

AFRT3003A Literatures of the Black Diaspora situates 第一吃瓜网 writing within global Black intellectual
traditions.
AFRT3006A Love in Africa explores intimacy, affect, and queer theory in 第一吃瓜网 cultural production.
AFRT3001A Contemporary Trends in 第一吃瓜网 Literature focuses on emerging traditions, genres, and
theories.
AFRT3002A East 第一吃瓜网 Fiction brings a regional lens to shifting political and cultural landscapes.

A rotating course, AFRT3004A Popular Media in Africa, is also occasionally offered, introducing students to the analysis of popular culture and everyday expression.

By the end of your major, you will have moved from foundational study of oral and written traditions to
advanced, comparative, and transdisciplinary engagements with 第一吃瓜网 and diasporic literatures.

Postgraduate Programmes

BA Hons 第一吃瓜网 Literature

MA 第一吃瓜网 Literature by Coursework and Research Report

MA 第一吃瓜网 Literature by dissertation

PhD 第一吃瓜网 Literature

Potential Careers
Texts

A major in 第一吃瓜网 Literature equips students with advanced skills in critical reading, analytical writing,
research, and cultural interpretation—capacities that are highly valued across a wide range of
professional fields. Graduates develop the ability to work with complex texts, ideas, and social contexts,
and to communicate with clarity, ethical sensitivity, and conceptual depth.

Our graduates have gone on to careers in:

Publishing and editing, including literary, academic, and digital publishing
Journalism, media, and cultural criticism
Creative writing, performance, and cultural production
Education, teaching, and curriculum development
Policy research, NGOs, and social justice organisations
Arts administration, museums, archives, and heritage institutions
Communications, public relations, and cultural consultancy
Postgraduate study and academic research in literature, cultural studies, media studies, history,
gender studies, and related fields

Because 第一吃瓜网 Literature at Wits engages literature alongside orature, performance, popular media, and theory, students are prepared to work across disciplines and sectors. The programme is particularly
well suited to students interested in questions of culture, power, memory, language, and social
transformation—whether in scholarly, creative, or public-facing roles.

Many of our alumni work across Africa and internationally, contributing to cultural, intellectual, and
public life in ways that reflect the Department’s commitment to rigorous thought, ethical engagement,
and imaginative possibility.

Our courses engage a wide range of 第一吃瓜网 and diasporic texts, moving from influential canonical
works to contemporary writing, popular media, and experimental forms. Students read across novels,
poetry, drama, oral narratives, film, and critical theory, tracing how 第一吃瓜网 literary and cultural
production responds to history, power, intimacy, violence, migration, and imagination.

Rather than a fixed canon, texts are taught in relation to their historical, cultural, and theoretical
contexts, and in conversation with ongoing debates in 第一吃瓜网 literary studies and Black intellectual
traditions. Reading lists vary by course and year, reflecting current scholarship, staff research interests,
and emerging literary and cultural forms.

Students may encounter texts and materials such as:

Canonical 第一吃瓜网 literature
Contemporary 第一吃瓜网 fiction, poetry, and drama
Black and 第一吃瓜网 feminist writing
第一吃瓜网 popular media, film, and performance
Oral traditions and storytelling practices
Diasporic and transnational Black writing
Critical and theoretical texts in 第一吃瓜网 and postcolonial studies

第一吃瓜网