Post Doctoral Fellowship

North-West University / Noordwes-Universiteit; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 300 000 - 400 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading South African university in Johannesburg is inviting applications for a postdoctoral research fellowship focused on Postcolonial African Literature. The successful candidate will contribute to research outputs under the guidance of a mentor and engage with contemporary literary texts dealing with crucial socio-political issues. Ideal for early career researchers with a doctoral degree, this role offers an opportunity to work on a dynamic project examining the intersection of politics and aesthetics.

Qualifications

• Completed Doctoral degree within the last five years in English, African literature or postcolonial literary studies.
• Applicant must be 45 years or younger at the time of application.

Responsibilities

• Contribute significantly to the research outputs of the subject group.
• Work with a mentor in the Literature section of the department.

Job description

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship – Postcolonial African Literature

Faculty of Humanities – Research Entity / School : Faculty of Humanities-Research and Innovation

Call for Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (PDRF)

The School / Research entity of Languages and Literature in the South African Context is inviting applications from outstanding early career researchers for Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Postcolonial African Literature (field of study).

To be shortlisted, applicants must have a relevant research track record and demonstrate the potential to contribute significantly to the subject group / research entity's research outputs.

The postdoctoral fellowship will be situated in the Department of English at the Vaal Campus.

The Department of English has two broad focus areas – Literature and Linguistics.

The prospective candidate will work with a mentor / advisor in the Literature section of the department.

The research project focuses on the intersection of politics and aesthetics in contemporary African literatures and cultures.

It explores a wide range of contemporary literary and cultural texts that deal with issues such as identity, gender, politics, migration, and more.

The project draws on theoretical frameworks such as postcolonial theory, decolonial theory, postcolonial feminism, queer theory, transnationalism, and others to study how a reading approach that privileges poetics can illuminate issues in literary and cultural texts.

Prospective candidates should demonstrate familiarity with these theories and contemporary literary and cultural texts (novels, poems, films, and other cultural texts) that explore the thematic concerns indicated above.

Given the range of issues that the project seeks to explore and the multiple poetics and / or aesthetic traditions in literature and culture, potential candidates should demonstrate theoretical versatility so that they can read various texts using different reading approaches and theoretical frameworks.

Since the project draws on texts from different parts of Africa, the prospective candidate would be expected to demonstrate knowledge of (or research about) the various socio-political and cultural contexts in which the texts are set.

Requirements

• A completed Doctoral degree within the last five years in English, African literature or postcolonial literary studies.
• The applicant must be 45 years or younger at the time of application.

Required Documents

• Completed application form.
• Certified copy of Doctoral Degree certificate.
• Certified copy of ID.
• A motivation letter on how the applicant can contribute to the research project outlined above.

Application

Kindly send the five documents specified above to Prof Phil van Schalkwyk (name) via email :

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Funding Details

• Start date: 1 January
• End date: 30 December
• Fellowship amount (currently R p.a.)
• Travel / relocation cost (currently maximum of R p.a.)
• Research cost total (currently R p.a.)
• Mention any other source(s) of funding secured / offered (e.g. external funds or funding offered to top-up / replace the above).