Studies in Literature and Film (386-0-21)

Topic

Reimagining Race and Gender from the 18th Century

Instructors

Nina Moon
ninamoon@u.northwestern.edu

Meeting Info

Parkes Hall 223: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

New Topic: Studies in Literature and Film: Reimagining Race and Gender from the 18th Century to Netflix


From the recent adaptation of Austen's Persuasion to the bodice-ripping historical romance Bridgerton, colorblind and color-conscious casting have transformed period film and television. Heralded, on the one hand, as progressive and inclusive, and criticized, on the other, as ahistorical and inconsistent, casting people of color in the roles of 17th-19th century British gentry, nobility, and royalty destablizes historical notions of race, class, and gender, especially in light of the British empire's investments in the slave trade and race-based slavery. What does it mean for film to enact the undoing of white supremacy but maintain the class and gender hierarchies of this period? How can speculative fantasies about Britain's imperial past push us to, in Christina Sharpe's words, "imagine otherwise" for our past, present, and future? At the same time, what responsibility do we have to the complicated, difficult, and often ugly historical legacies that continue to haunt our collective present? In this class, we will consider these questions by reading narratives of enslavement and novels from the long 18th century, historical fiction written by Black women, and recent period film and television.

Evaluation Method

Possible Texts: Anonymous, The Woman of Colour (1808); Mary Prince, The History of Mary Prince (1831); Octavia Butler, Kindred (1979); Toni Morrison, A Mercy (2008); M. NourbeSe Philip, Zong! (2008)

Possible Films: Belle (2014), dir. Amma Asante; The Book of Negroes (2015), dir. Clement Virgo; Roots (2016); Sanditon (2019), Bridgerton (2020), Persuasion (2022), dir. Carrie Cracknell

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area