Course module - Twentieth Century African American Literature
Code : AMER20492 Credit rating: 20 Semester : 2
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Aims |
Objectives |
Assessment |
Information
|
Course Content |
Course Materials |
Tutors |
Timetable |
Teaching Methods |
Keywords
Aims
• To develop students’ critical awareness by encouraging them to attend to the language, themes, narratives, genres, and political elements of the literary works we study;
• To develop students’ awareness of historical and cultural contexts specific to twentieth century African American literature;
• To encourage and develop students’ research, presentation, and writing skills and their capacity to construct a sustained and coherent argument.
Objectives (Learning Outcomes)
By the end of this course students should be able to demonstrate:
• A knowledge and understanding of some of the major literary themes and traditions expressed and negotiated through twentieth century African American literature;
• A knowledge and understanding of some of the historical and cultural factors which influence the literature of this period, including Reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement;
• Some ability to understand and theorize the ideological constructs of, and intersections between, race, class, gender, and sexual identity, as well as politics, within a wide range of twentieth century African American writers;
• Some ability (in the assessed essay) to construct a sustained and cohesive written argument and to deploy scholarly methods of presentation;
• Analyzing texts; speaking in front of groups; making connections to present-day concerns; improved writing; self confidence in abilities
Assessment
One 3, 000-word essay (50%) and one 2-hour unseen-written exam (50%).
The use of dictionaries in the examination is prohibited. This rule applies to all categories of students, including all Visiting Students.
Information
THIS COURSE IS NOT AVAILABLE AS FREE-CHOICE.
Course Content
During this unit we will explore a range of novels, poems and essays by twentieth century African American writers from the early twentieth century until the end of the millennium. During the unit we will close read a number of texts but we will also pay close attention to the historical, cultural and political shifts that shaped key literary movements, including literature that emerged from the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement.
Course Materials
Tutor(s)
Field, Dr Douglas
Timetable
PROVISIONAL TIMETABLE FOR 2013-2014
Lecture: Wednesday 11.00-1.00
seminar: Thursday 10.00-11.00
Teaching Methods
Weekly 2-hour lectures that will situate the literature in its historical and cultural contexts. Weekly 1-hour seminars focusing on student-led discussion and close reading of the texts. Student participation and initiative are essential to seminars.
Preliminary reading
Abraham Chapman, Black Voices: An Anthology of African-American Literature (Dutton/ Signet, 2001)
Gene Andrew Jarrett, A Companion to African American Literature (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)
William L. Andrews, Frances Smith Foster and Trudier Harris, The Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature (Oxford University Press, 2001)
Bill V. Mullen and James Smethurst, Left of the Color Line: Race, Radicalism, and Twentieth-Century Literature of the United States (The University of North Carolina Press (2003)
Lawrence P. Jackson, The Indignant Generation: A Narrative History of African American Writers and Critics, 1934-1960 (Princeton University Press, 2012)
Kenneth Warren, What Was African American Literature? (Harvard University Press, 2012)