BA Dissertations in Literature in the Departments of African Languages and Literature at the Universities of Botswana and Lesotho, 1973-83

Abstract

The two universities - University of Botswana (UB) and National University of Lesotho (NUL)-have their origins in the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland (UBLS). The University of Botswana came into existence in 1982, while the National University of Lesotho was established in 1976. The Department of African Languages and Literature is one of the oldest in the humanities faculty. The two major languages and literatures, Setswana and Sesotho, have so much in common that one can hardly discuss one without the other. The Department of African Languages and Literature of the University of Botswana offers a course, AL305-''Individual Project Work on a Literary or Linguistic Topic." Similarly, the National University of Lesotho offers AL304-"Project Work on a Literary or Linguistic Topic." Students are required to submit dissertations in partial fulfilment of the Bachelor of Arts degree. Between 1973 and 1983, seventy-three dissertations on modern and traditional literature were presented, including forty-one in Sesotho and thirty-two in Setswana. Copies are kept in the special collections of the University libraries. For the purposes of this bibliography, the Setswana dissertations written at UBLS and the University of Botswana and Swaziland (1976-82) are included under UB, and the Sesotho dissertations of UBLS are included under NUL.