ENGL324 - Contemporary African American Narratives of Slavery

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Academic Year 2003/2004

Contemporary African American Narratives of Slavery
ENGL 324 FA

Crosslistings:
AFAM 324
AMST 334

In this course, we will primarily be concerned with examining in some detail the recent proliferation of African American fiction about slavery. After a preliminary study of some notable antebellum slave narratives, we will discuss the three major forms of representing slavery in contemporary narratives of slavery: historical novels set in the antebellum South; novels set in late 20th-century America but tracing modern social relations within an explicit representation of the slave experience; and contemporary rewritings of antebellum slave narrative forms and conventions. The three major topics students should be engaged in to prepare them for this seminar are the historiography of American chattel slavery, the slave narrative as political and literary representation, and contemporary African American literary history and theory.

MAJOR READINGS

Andrews, William L., Ed., SIX WOMEN'S SLAVE NARRATIVES, Oxford UP, 1988
Bradley, David, THE CHANEYSVILLE INCIDENT, Harper & Row 1990
Butler, Octavia, KINDRED, Beacon, 1988
Douglass, Frederick, NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE; Ed. Houston A. Baker, Penguin, 1986
Jacobs, Harriet A., INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL, WRITTEN BY HERSELF; Ed. Jean Fagan Yellin, Harvard UP, 1987
Johnson, Charles, MIDDLE PASSAGE, NAL, 1991
OXHERDING TA LE, NAL, 1991
Jones, Gayl, CORREGIDORA, Beacon, 1986
Morrison, Toni, BELOVED, New American Library, 1989
Reed, Ishmael, FLIGHT TO CANADA, Antheneum, 1976
Williams, Sherley Anne, DESSA ROSE, Berkley, 1987

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Four short papers (3 pages each) One research paper (15-20 pages) One final exam

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Prospective students in this course are encouraged to do some preliminary background reading on their own. The student might best prepare herself or himself by reading any one of the standard general histories of American chattel slavery -- e.g. Eugene Genovese's ROLL, JORDAN, ROLL: THE WORLD THE SLAVES MADE (Vintage, 1976) or John Blassingame's THE SLAVE COMMUNITY: PLANTATION LIFE IN THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH (Oxford UP, 1979)

This course carries a Research Option.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ENGL Grading Mode: Graded

Prerequisites: ENGL201 OR AFAM201

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): Rushdy,Ashraf H.A.

Times: ...W... 07:00PM-09:50PM; Location: FISK305

Reserved Seats: (Total Limit: 25)

SR. major: 9 Jr. major: 4

SR. non-major: 6 Jr. non-major: 6 SO: X FR: X

Special Attributes:

Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004