Explores the major genres, themes, and criticisms which compose the literary and cultural traditions of African Americans. Selected oral narratives, essays, slave narratives, poetry, short stories, autobiographies, drama, and novels will be critically studied.
Attention is given to historical, cultural, and socio-political backgrounds.
The United States has always been a contact zone, a meeting place of a variety of cultures. Introduces some of the diverse American literature produced between the 17th and 20th centuries. Students will learn about the many writers associated with the Boston area, such as Bradstreet, Alcott, and Thoreau as well as writers such as Douglass, Twain, Dickinson, and Cather from the diverse regions and cultural backgrounds within the United States. As the recent successes of Dances with Wolves and Pocahontas suggest, Americans are still fascinated with American Indian culture and history. In reading texts such as Love Medicine and Reservation Blues and authors including Sherman Alexie, Joy Harjo, and Zitkala-Sa, we will explore how characters deal with their complicated cultural inheritance.