Beyond the Horizon: Class Discussion Points

Check the Assignments Page for Essay # 3 . Due Exam Day.

Class Discussions

We will begin discussing Amma Darko's Beyond the Horizon. I will begin with a background to the works of Amma Darko and introduce recent/ongoing scholarship on her growing number of novels. She has recently completed another novel, Faceless, which is an excellent work of fiction

This is a transcript of an Email interview I had with Amma Darko in 2003.

Other materials:

Maria Frias - Women On Top: Prostitution and Pornography in Amma Darko's Beyond the Horizon (PDF format - article on Amma Darko's work from Wasafiri)

Class Discussions

In our discussions, think about the following:

• commodification of the female body (compare with Things Fall Apart)
• woman as object of transaction - perceptions of traditional marriage systems
• tradition as patriarchy and patriachy as tradition - culturally sanctioned male dominance?
• the male aggressive-female submissive dimension to the work?
• urban centers as sites of challenge to tradition/culturally sanctioned male dominance.
• African women writers place emphasis on space/geography (specific cultures and locations) unlike the agenda and insistence of western feminists.
• African women do not "color" their feminist engagements (engage with deeper and more profound issues.
• Asssess the view at this point that African women writers do not wrestle with an imperial Other and there is no specificity of "the center" - they battle a number of centers in various discursive formations and cultural economies.
• A bigger question - how should African women writers talk about their own writing? Must/can they only talk about their writing by referring to western theoretical formations?
• In Amma Darko's portrayal of Gitte, what does she emphasize?

There are three class discussions today:

Handout	Description
	Danica, Ashley, and Rachel discuss Chaps 1-4.
	Donald, Robert, and Holly discuss Chaps 5-8
	Geff, Nick, Callie, and Greg discuss the rest of the text.

Email: PKMuana@gmail.com or muana@tamu.edu
Phone: (832) 215-4258 or (979) 458-3367