SE2451: African-American Literature
| School | English Literature |
| Department Code | ENCAP |
| Module Code | SE2451 |
| External Subject Code | 100319 |
| Number of Credits | 20 |
| Level | L6 |
| Language of Delivery | English |
| Module Leader | PROFESSOR Carl Plasa |
| Semester | Spring Semester |
| Academic Year | 2018/9 |
Outline Description of Module
The module offers an introduction to African American literature from 1845 to the present, situating it within its changing historical, literary and cultural contexts. Indicative topics to be covered:
- The Middle Passage and its literary legacies
- the ‘peculiar institution’ of slavery
- ‘double consciousness’
- double oppression
- The Harlem Renaissance
- racial and cultural hybridity
- the ideology of lynching
- strategies of resistance
- orality, literacy and music (spirituals, jazz and the blues)
- supernaturalism and the Gothic
On completion of the module a student should be able to
Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of a broad range of key texts in the African American literary tradition; analyse the principal thematic concerns and formal features of these texts from an historically informed perspective
How the module will be delivered
The module will be delivered via two lectures a week and a weekly one-hour seminar.
Skills that will be practised and developed
The particular skills of this module entail understanding the development of African American literature from the antebellum era to the present day, with the emphasis placed on a practice of close reading informed by historical awareness and recent critical debates in the field. Employability skills include the ability to synthesise information; operating in group-based discussion involving negotiating ideas; and producing clear, cogent and informed arguments in a professional manner.
How the module will be assessed
The module is assessed by once piece of written work at:
Essay (3200 words) = 100%
The essay is assessed according to the Marking Criteria set out in the English Literature Student Handbook. There are otherwise no academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities.
Assessment Breakdown
| Type | % | Title | Duration(hrs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written Assessment | 100 | Essay | N/A |
Syllabus content
The main readings for this module are books and journal articles. Students should contact the module leader as early as possible if they will require readings in an alternative format.
Essential Reading and Resource List
Essential Reading and Resource List:
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Norton or OUP)
W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (Norton or OUP)
Langston Hughes, Selected Poems (Serpent’s Tail)
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (Virago)
Harriet A. Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Norton, OUP or Harvard)
Nella Larsen, Quicksand in Quicksand and Passing (Serpent’s Tail)
Toni Morrison, Beloved (Vintage)
Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon (Vintage)
Jean Toomer, Cane (Norton)
Richard Wright, Native Son (Vintage)
Background Reading and Resource List
Further information about recommended reading will be provided at the start of the module.