African American Literature Survey

3 Units

This course explores the relationship of African American authors to Africa and to the classics of the Western literary tradition. The poetry, fiction, autobiographies, essays, and speeches on the syllabus--and contextual information about their political, social, and historical contexts--will prepare you to reflect on the traditions and prospects of African American literature, including in relation to the literary mainstream. Also, you will learn about important creative modes, approaches and movements (such as neoclassicism, local color, New Criticism, the Harlem Renaissance, modernism, and Black Arts). Perhaps more important, you will explore key instances when African American authors innovated literary form or upended literary conventions. Those breakthrough moments in American literary history inspire some of the big questions we will tackle collectively, including: why do literary genres exist, and what do they preclude and accomplish? Recommended preparation: Academic Inquiry Seminar (AIQS) or SAGES First Seminar. Offered as AFST 310 and ENGL 311 . Counts as a Human Diversity & Commonality course.