AFR 240(F) Contemporary African American Literature (Same as English 253)*

From the Harlem Renaissance to the postmodern period, black writers in the United States have used the literary text as a site of meditation on politics, identity, and national culture. Organized through parallel themes such as slavery and neo-slavery; incarceration and escape; dreams and nightmares; coming of age and growing old; and the church and the street corner, this introductory-level survey of twentieth and twenty-first century African American literature will focus on situating narrative interpretation in its historical context. We will draw from short fiction, novels, film, poetry, and literary criticism by authors such as Zora Neale Hurston, Audre Lorde, Claude McKay, Ralph Ellison, Lorraine Hansberry, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Danzy Senna.
Format: lecture/discussion. Requirements: active participation in class discussions, brief written responses to readings, and four 5- to 7-page essays. No final exam.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 30 (expected: 30). Preference given to first- and second-year students concentrating in Africana Studies or majoring in English.

Hour: E. EDWARDS