English 246: Introduction to African American Literature

A study of the forms, techniques, and traditions shared by Black writers in colonial America and the U.S. from the earliest known writing in the Eighteenth Century to the present. Topics will include the way Black writers (especially enslaved and formerly enslaved persons) forged spaces for expression in the American public sphere, debates about the appropriate qualities and purposes of “Negro Literature” in the early 20^th century, the innovations and explorations of the Black Arts Movement, and representations of history and identity pertaining to African Americans in the wake of the Civil Rights Act. Aside from reading, assignments will include exams and formal essays. May be taken for credit toward the Indigeneity, Race, and Ethnicity Studies major or minor.