Introduction to African American Literature (210-0-1)
Instructors
Tracy L Vaughn
8474913725
1860 Campus Dr Crowe 5-103
Meeting Info
Kresge Cent. Hall 2-380 Kaplan: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
This class will explore the first half of the African American literary tradition, beginning with the 1773 publication of Phillis Wheatley's first volume of poetry, through the turn of the 20th century. We will read and consider fiction, poetry, non-fiction prose (slave narratives,) and speeches with the goal of developing an understanding of what the major political, social, and aesthetic concerns were for African Americans who had access to writing, and those who used the spoken word. Central to this course, and to understanding and engaging the literature will be a critical appreciation of the historical moments that surround the writing. We will look closely at how 18th- and 19th-century African American writers fashioned themselves in the world and how such fashioning reflected their conceptualization of their selfhood and identity—specifically in the ways in which they identified via race, class, and gender in antebellum society and beyond. Ultimately, by the end of the quarter, you will have a deeper understanding of how these early years of African American literary production informed and nurtured the centuries of cultural production that followed.
Class Materials (Required)
The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line/ Charles W. Chesnutt, ISBN 1530854199
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave: Written by Himself/Frederick Douglass, ISBN 9780393265446
The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, 3rd Edition/Henry Louis Gates Jr. (ed.), ISBN 039392369X
Our Nig: or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black/ Harriet E. Wilson, ISBN 0143105760
Class Attributes
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity