(ENGL 320) Imagining Freedom: 19th-Century African American Literature and Politics

3-4 Credits

In the midst of slavery and its violent aftermath, African Americans dreamed of freedom. These imaginings of freedom are among the richest cultural legacies of the American people and a necessary part of any effort to understand our nation’s contradictory history. Students will read slave-narratives, novels, poems, protests against slavery and lynching, demands for political rights and women’s equality, calls for slave rebellion and appeals for inter-racial cooperation. Readings include Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Wilson, Charles Chesnutt. Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W