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ENGL324

Contemporary African American Narratives of Slavery
ENGL324 FA

Crosslistings: AFAM324, AMST334
SectionClass Size*AvailableTimes
1 30 0 Times: .T..... 7:00PM-10:00PM;

*The number of spaces listed as available is based on class seats open for the current phase of registration. Some seats may be taken in previous phases while others may be held out for subsequent phases of registration. (Last Updated on Wed Mar 4 05:01:03 EST 1998 )

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": 1) historical novels set in the antebellum South; 2) novels set in late twentieth-century America but tracing modern social relations within an explicit representation of the slave experience; and 3) 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: 1) the historiography of American chattel slavery; 2) the slave narrative as political and literary representation; and 3) 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 TALE, 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 counts toward the English Department's Historicity requirement. Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Reegistrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Discussion Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA ENGL

Prerequisites: None

Section 01
Rushdy, A
Times: .T..... 7:00PM-10:00PM;
Grading Mode: A/F
Registration Preference (1 high to 6 low, 0=Excluded) Sr: 1, Jr: 1, So: 0, Fr: 0
Major Preference Given

Last Updated on MAR-03-1998




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