HUMS 640
Contemporary African American Narratives of Slavery
Ashraf Rushdy
Course Description | |
This course will primarily be concerned with examining in some detail the recent proliferation of African American fiction about slavery. After a preliminary discussion of some notable antebellum slave narratives, we will study eight contemporary “narratives of slavery” and define the three most notable forms of representing slavery in contemporary fiction: 1) “Neo-Slave narratives” -- that is, novels that are contemporary rewritings of antebellum slave narrative forms and conventions; 2) “Palimpsest narratives,” which are novels set in late twentieth-century America but tracing modern social relations within an explicit representation of the slave experience; and 3) historical novels set in the antebellum South. |
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Required Texts | |
Bradley, David. The Chaneysville Incident. Harper & Row, 1990. ** N.B. There will also be a packet of xeroxed material at PIP Printing, 179 Main St. (344-9001) |
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Grade Distribution | |
Your final grade will be based on several factors: a consideration of the overall achievement and degree of improvement over the course of the marked essays, attendance, and participation. I will mark and grade your papers, using the standard A-F grading mode |
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Written Assignments | |
You will be required to write three papers for this course: two short essays; and one long essay. Paper # 1 - 4 typed, double-spaced pages (max. 1000 words) Paper # 2 - 4 typed, double-spaced pages (max. 1000 words) Paper # 3 - 8 typed, double-spaced pages (max. 2000 words) |
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Course Schedule | |
Part I: Antebellum Slave Narratives and Context | |
January 30 |
Frederick Douglass, Narrative |
February 6 |
* Handout on the Sociopolitical Contexts of Contemporary Narratives of Slavery |
Part II: Neo-Slave Narratives | |
February 13 |
Ishmael Reed, Flight to Canada |
February 20 | Charles Johnson, Oxherding Tale |
February 27 | Charles Johnson, Middle Passage |
March 5 |
Shirley Anne Williams, Dessa Rose |
March 12-26 - Spring Break | |
Part III: Historical Fiction about Slavery | |
April 2 | Toni Morrison, Beloved |
April 9 | Toni Morrison, Beloved |
Part IV: Palimpsest Narratives | |
April 16 |
Gayl Jones, Corregidora |
April 23 | Octavia Butler, Kindred |
April 30 | David Bradley, The Chaneysville Incident |