New York and the African American Literary Imagination

Many African American novels take place in New York City, and have been written by authors who have lived within the metropolis. A hub of African American culture from the early twentieth century onward, New York serves more than a backdrop for these narratives. This seminar will explore ways in which cityscapes (spaces, places, and cultures) inform the novels and shape their meanings: ideologically, conceptually, and metaphorically.

Tentative Texts: Claude McKay – Home to Harlem (1928); Nella Larsen – Passing (1929); Ann Petry – The Street (1946); Ralph Ellison – Invisible Man (1952); James Baldwin – Go Tell it on the Mountain (1953); Claude Brown – Manchild in the Promised Land (1965); Trey Ellis – Platitudes (1988); Gloria Naylor – The Women of Brewster Place (1989); Toni Morrison – Jazz (1992); Coleson Whitehead – Zone One (2011)

Requirements: Active Participation, Preparation of Study Questions, In-Class Presentation, Seminar Paper.