African American Literature

Dr. Sonia Weiner

Course Description

How does a literary tradition emerge within an oppressed group deliberately kept illiterate? How do slavery, prejudice, discrimination and racism inform and influence the evolving tradition throughout the years? How are African American writers influenced by: the ideologies, allure, expectations, criticism and gaze of the white world? We will explore these questions in reference to canonic texts of the African American literary tradition (slave narratives, autobiographies, short stories, essays, novels), while reflecting on identity and racism, blues and jazz, language and the vernacular, form and voice, gender and sexuality.

The course will emphasize visual aspects of African American culture and will explore ways in which African American writers dealt with diverse representations of 'blackness', both thematically, as they contended with the 'meanings' of images and the manner in which they could be 'used', and formally, as photography shaped the way they 'saw' and wrote about the world.

Course Requirements

Attendance is mandatory. Come prepared.

In-Class midterm: 18%

Final take home paper: 82%