African American Literature of the Twentieth Century Fall 2018

Transcription

1 African American Literature of the Twentieth Century Fall 2018 Instructor: Patrick Sylvain AAAS 79B: Tu/Th: 2:00-3:20 pm in Pearlman 203 Office Hours: Mandel, Room 218 Thursdays 11-1and by appointment Office Phone: Course Description: This introductory course focuses on major works of literature by prominent African American writers of the 20th century as well as literary theories that have specifically addressed black writing and representation. We will examine the essential themes, aesthetic concerns, and textual strategies that characterize African American literature of the 20 th century, attending to the specific links between African American literary production and changes in the social and political landscape of the United States. Major thematic emphasis will be given to the following topics: passing ; the quest for selfactualization; the double-burden of racism and sexism; and strategies for coping with injustice and resisting racism. In this course we will also consider, among other issues, the tension between the power to consume and the perception that one is an object of consumption; shifting and contradictory perceptions of the African continent; how U.S. military power in select Caribbean countries shaped and undermined diasporic affiliations. Further attention will be paid to the ways that literature by African Americans has been used to assert black humanity, revise history, and redress historical injury. Course Objectives: To trace the development of African American literature of the 20 th century by attending to issues of content, style, and genre in African American writing. To become familiar with major literary figures of the 20 th century. To understand the social, political, and religious ideas influencing these writings, especially those concerning the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Arts Movement, and contemporary literature. To appreciate the critical connections between historical events and the formation of narrative. To understand African American literature as illustrative of the canon of American literature as a whole. To produce competent oral and written analyses of literature (fiction and poetry). Your final grade is based on the following requirements: a) Full attendance; class readings; thoughtful contributions; writing exercises 15% b) two oral presentations: one 5-min close reading; one 10-min analytical/lens 15% c) 2-page paper (close reading) due on Thursday, October 4 th 10% d) five-page paper (analytical/lens) due on Thursday, November 8th 20% e) final 8-10-page paper (research/position) due on December 14th 40% This course fulfills Humanities, Social Science, and Writing Intensive requirements. AAAS 79B_Sylvain_Fall

2 Required Texts: At the heart of our analysis are the following novels, which we will consider alongside short fiction, poetry, and essays that are available on LATTE. The required texts below are available at the campus bookstore. You are expected to have them with you in class on the days they are assigned. _John Edgar Wideman The Cattle Killing (1996) _Zora Neale Hurston Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica (1990) _Toni Morrison The Bluest Eyes (1994) [1970] _ Every Shut Eye Ain't Asleep: An Anthology of Poetry by African Americans Since 1945 (1994) _Richard Wright Eight Men (1996) Introduction by Paul Gilroy _James Baldwin Another Country (1988) [1962] You are encouraged to keep a reading/writing journal in which you record comments and questions about the readings. For each reading that is assigned, you should prepare and bring to class notes or questions to be used in class discussions. Course Policies: Late papers will not be accepted except in cases of emergency. If unforeseen circumstances place you at risk for submitting a paper after its due date, please contact me in advance to arrange an alternate time to submit your paper. ed papers are not accepted. Please turn in hard-copies of all written papers. You will have the opportunity to revise one paper over the course of the semester and will have until the last week of class to submit the revised paper. The grade on revised papers will effectively replace the grade given to the first version. Attendance & Participation: You should commit to attending every class session when the college is open. Three or more unexcused absences will affect your grade significantly, and I will ask you to consider dropping the course. When you are absent as a result of illness, you should present documentation from athletic and/or medical personnel. Please tell me at the beginning of the semester about any religious exemptions, athletic exemptions, and documented disabilities. If you have questions about documenting a disability or requesting academic accommodations, you should contact Beth Rodgers-Kay in Academic Services (x or brodgers@brandeis.edu.) Letters of accommodation should be presented at the start of the semester to ensure provision of accommodations: they cannot be granted retroactively. Unexcused absences affect your grade. Laptops/Cellphone or any other electronic means of communication is strictly prohibited in class. Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism: You are expected to fulfill your class requirements honestly. Plagiarism is when you use someone else's ideas, language, or work and pass if off as your own. This is theft, and it is cheating. Plagiarism is unforgivable in this class, as in all of your classes in this university. Students found guilty of plagiarism risk failure of the course and appearance before the university s board of judicial affairs. If you are unsure about how to cite others ideas, please see me or Please check the LATTE course site for more information on university policy related to exemptions, accommodations, and plagiarism. AAAS 79B_Sylvain_Fall

3 SCHEDULE OF CLASSES Note: We will follow this syllabus as closely as possible. If after class has gotten underway, I discover that some revisions are necessary, I will make them accordingly. You will be told of changes in advance. Week 1 Th. Aug 30 Tues. Sep 4 Week 2 Th. Sep 13 Week 3 Tues. Sep 18 Th. Sep 20 Week 4 Th. Sep 27 Week 5 Tues. Oct 2 Introductory remarks. Class overview. Readings from My Soul is a Witness, Edited by Gloria Wade-Gayles: (L) 1- M. H. Washington s On Discovering Self and Empowerment in Black Women s Literature. 2- Bell Hooks Walking in the Spirit. From Rereading America, Edited by Colombo, Cullen & Lisle: (L) 1- Malcolm X s Learning to Read. 2- Toni Cade Bambara s The Lesson. 3- Shelby Steele s I m Black, You re White, Who s Innocent? LATTE (L) From Afro-American Writing Today, Edited by James Olney: (L) 1- Henri Louis Gates, Jr s An Interview with Josephine Baker and James Baldwin. From The Cross of Redemption by James Baldwin: (L) 2- The Artist s Struggle for Integrity. 3- On Language, Race, and the Black Writer. From Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison: (L) 4- Introduction and Prologue Richard Wright s EIGHT MEN The Man Who Was Almost a Man ; The Man Who Lived Underground ; Big Black Good Man. Starts of Close Reading Presentations Wright s EIGHT MEN The Man Who Saw the Flood ; Man of all Work ; Man, God Ain t Like That Close Reading Presentations Wright s EIGHT MEN The Man Who Killed a Shadow ; The Man Who Went to Chicago ; From Race, Writing, and Difference, Edited by Henri Louis Gates, Jr. (L) 1- Tzvetan Todorov, Race, Writing, and Culture. 2- Henri Louis Gates, Jr s Talkin That talk. Close Reading Presentations Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eyes. P (Autumn/Winter) End of Close Reading Presentations AAAS 79B_Sylvain_Fall

4 Th. Oct 4 Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eyes. P (Spring/Summer) Close Reading Paper due Week 6 Tues. Oct 9 James Baldwin, Another Country. P (Book One, Chapter 1 & 2) Th. Oct 11 Baldwin, Another Country. P (Bk 1, Chpt 3 & Bk 2, Chpt 1) Week 7 Tues. Oct 16 Baldwin, Another Country. P (Book 2, Chpt 2, 3, & 4) Th. Oct 18 Week 8 Tues. Oct 23 Th. Oct 25 Week 9 Tues. Oct 30 Baldwin, Another Country. P (Book 3, Toward Bethlehem) From The Indignant Generation, by Lawrence P. Jackson: (L) 1- The End of the Negro Writer. 1- Robert Hayden 2- Gwendolyn Brooks 3- Jay Wright From Black, White, and in Color by Hortense J. Spillers: (L) 4- Gwendolyn the Terrible: Propositions on Eleven Poems. 5- Dolores Kendrick 6- Sonia Sanchez 7- Lucille Clifton 8- Jayne Cortez 9- Ishmael Reed 10- Michael S. Harper From The Indignant Generation, by Lawrence P. Jackson: (L) 11- The Insinuating Poetics of the Mainstream. 12- Al Young 13- Marilyn Nelson Waniek 14- Ai 15- Yusef Komunyakaa 16- Melvin Dixon 17- Rita Dove 18- Elizabeth Alexander From Conversations With Yusef Komunyakaa, Edited by Shirley A. J. Hanshaw: (L) Every Tool Became a Weapon: Talking with Y. Komunyakaa about Race and War. Tod Marshall, AAAS 79B_Sylvain_Fall

5 Week 10 Tues. Nov 6 John Edgar Wideman, The Cattle Killing. P From Afro-American Writing Today, Edited by James Olney: (L) 1- Clyde Taylor s Black Writing as Immanent Humanism. Th. Nov 8 Wideman, The Cattle Killing. P Essay 2 due (analytical paper) Week 11 Tues. Nov 13 Wideman, The Cattle Killing. P From Black, White, and in Color by Hortense J. Spillers: (L) 1- Mama s Baby, Papa s Maybe: An American Grammar Book. Th. Nov 15 Week 12 Tu. Nov 20 Nov Week 13 Tu. Nov 27 Th. Nov 29 Week 14 Tu. Dec. 4 Th. Dec 6 Tu. Dec. 11 From African-American Literature, Edited by Al Young: (L) 1- Toni Morrison, Recitatif. 2- Zora Neale Hurston, Sweat From The Complete Stories by Zora Neale Hurston: (L) 3- Black Death 4- The Bone of Contention End of presentations: analytical or mini-lens analysis No Assignment_ Revisiting of Texts No Class Zora Neale Hurston Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica Forward by Ishmael Reed; Ch. 1, Pt. 1 The Rooster s Nest P From Haitian Vodou: Spirit, Myth, & Reality, Edited by Patrick Bellegarde-Smith & Claudine Michel: (L) 1- P. Bellegarde-Smith, Broken Mirrors: Mythos, Memories, and National History. Part 2 Politics and Personalities of Haiti P From Haitian Vodou: Spirit, Myth, & Reality, Edited by Patrick Bellegarde-Smith & Claudine Michel: (L) 2- C. Michel, Of Worlds Seen and Unseen: The Educational Character of Haitian Vodou. Part 3 Voodoo in Haiti P Chpt Tell My Horse P From Undead Uprising: Haiti, Horror and The Zombie Complex by John Cussans. (L) 1) Seabrook and the Occupation ; 2) War on Vodou ; 3) The World Must Know About This Concluding remarks Final Research Paper due on Friday, the 14th AAAS 79B_Sylvain_Fall