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Academic Year 2004/2005

The First Century of the African American Novel, 1853-1953
AFAM 260 FA
Crosslistings:
ENGL 252

In this course, we will read a set of selected novels written between 1853 and 1953. We will discuss each of these novels as both a work of art and a historically-specific, politically-charged cultural production. That is, we will attend to the formal and aesthetic properties of each of the novels as well as to the historical context and the social and cultural meaning of these works. Two of the major points of discussion in the course will be the issues of "canonicity" and "tradition". As we read the series of novels, we will attempt to discern how one novel relates to its predecessors in the construction of an African American literary continuum. We will also discuss the ways literary canons and literary histories get constructed and reconstructed.

MAJOR READINGS

Bell, Bernard, THE AFRO-AMERICAN NOVEL AND ITS TRADITION (U. of Massachusetts, 1989)
Brown, Williams Wells, CLOTEL (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000)
Chesnutt, Charles, THE MARROW OF TRADITION (Penguin, 1993)
Dunbar, Paul Laurence, THE SPORT OF THE GODS (Signet Classic, 1999)
Ellison, Ralph, INVISIBLE MAN (Vintage International, 1990)
Harper, Frances, IOLA LEROY (Beacon Press, 1987)
Hopkins, Pauline, CONTENDING FORCES (Oxford UP, 1988)
Hurston, Zora Neale, THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD (HarperPerrennial, 1990)
Larsen, Nella, THE COMPLETE FICTION OF NELLA LARSEN (Anchor, 2001)
Schuyler, George, BLACK NO MORE (Northeastern UP, 1989)
Wright, Richard, NATIVE SON (HarperPerrennial Classics, 1998)

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

One short paper (5 pages); one long paper (12 pages); one final exam.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

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

Prerequisites: [AFAM202 or ENGL240] OR ENGL201 Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-21-2005

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