Decolonising Academia: A Literary Study of the Limitations of African American Characters in Academic Space as told by Smith, Taylor, and Everett

Abstract

This thesis explores how academic space creates limitations and disadvantages for African American characters in three novels from the 21st century. These three novels are Zadie Smith’s On Beauty (2005), Brandon Taylor’s Real Life (2020), and Percival Everett’s Erasure (2001). The purpose of this thesis is to examine how the African American characters within these three novels engage with academic space and the limitations put on them by the white dominant perspective that remains influential within this space. To reflect on this, the thesis draws its main theory focus from Sara Ahmed and her work on diversity within academic space. Furthermore, the thesis engages with other scholars and engagement with academic space as it has been related in the media in order to discuss how the limitations explored in these novels reflect academic space in the real world. This thesis examines the limitations and disadvantages that should be removed through a decolonisation of academia and explores why this task remains so difficult to engage with.