About TAS

'TAS' - Short Definition

The term transcultural stresses processual perspectives on cultural constitution, i.e. the definition, material articulation, and transformation of individual and collective identities, institutions, and works; with a particular emphasis on the coloniality of such processes, i.e. the extent to which colonial encounters, relations, and systems of rule have affected and continue to influence them.

Anglophone refers to translocated usages of English that exist in a differential (conflictual) with imperial/metropolitan language and literary practices.

Studies refers to research and teaching activities informed by historical and political developments as well as conceptual frameworks developed in the course of critically examining such works and practices. Methodologically, TAS draws on literary and cultural theory as well as related fields such as media studies and philosophy. (Ghosh-Schellhorn)

Transcultural Anglophone Studies

Transcultural Anglophone Studies's chief focus is on nation states formed in the wake of British colonialism. In its treatment of Anglophone literatures, cultures, and the many linguistic varieties of English as an international language, it covers the following geographical areas

  • The African continent, the Caribbean, the Pan-Pacific, South Asia, South-East Asia 
  • The diasporas of the formerly colonized countries as found above, as well as in Great Britain and North America

In dealing with theoretical issues of self-/representation; of identity; of agency, gender; universalism, difference; the local, and the global, TAS opens up diverse fields of inquiry which open up a host of possible topics for study/research, of which the following are a selection:

  • Anglophone literatures, national and/or regional
  • Anglophone media, popular culture and cultural production
  • Varieties of English, in aesthetic and daily use
  • Comparative cultural studies
  • Contemporary literary history
  • Discourse analysis
  • Cultural and literary theory
  • Gender discourse
  • Cultural memory
  • Intertextuality
  • Colonialism and imperialism
  • Resistance, independence and liberation movements
  • Nationalism and ethnicity
  • North-South divides and South-South dialogues
  • Migration as a global phenomenon
  • Acculturation and transculturation

Given the broad spectrum TAS has to offer, it is worth keeping in mind that, among things, its study actively supports the acquisition, at an international level, of intercultural competence.

Read the article about TAS by Vera Alexander for more information.