Postcolonial Africa is typically represented as a marginal place in the world: a place of disorder and war. How does anthropology help us to consider Africa’s place in our world? Do anthropological accounts of postcolonial Africa confirm that it is a place of chaos and violence? Or does anthropology allow us to better understand how we came to think about Africa as prone to violence and marginality? This seminar will consider these questions. We will examine some of the key concepts and debates that are central to the anthropology of postcolonial Africa with an aim to developing a critical perspective on representations of this vast continent and the diversity of practices that make Africa more than a continent. The seminar will take a thematic approach, covering topics such as kinship and ethnicity, religion and witchcraft, and economics and globalization. We will use both ethnographies and novels as the basis for discussion and debate.