(Re)writing Slavery

3 units

This special topics course will consider black-authored texts ranging from the 18th to the 21st century to examine the ways slavery has been discussed in American literature and culture. We will pay attention to the role of slavery in creating the African diaspora, the contribution of slave narratives to the Abolitionist movement, and how the structures of American slavery did not disappear after the Civil War. We will look at the ways Civil Rights-era and contemporary African American writers such as Margaret Walker, Toni Morrison, and Charles Johnson have appropriated the slave narrative to engage and critique present day concerns. Their works will be read against nineteenth century slave narratives by ex-slaves such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs. In addition to the texts, students will be asked to consider how slavery and its aftereffects have been portrayed in film and other forms of media.