Mar 29, 2024  
2021-2022 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2021-2022 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

EN 341 The (Neo) Slave and Emancipation Narrative


This course will explore the structures and literary themes present in both the autobiographical and fictional accounts of the transatlantic slave trade, chattel slavery, and the escape to freedom in the works of African and African American writers from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. We will also examine the neo-slave and emancipation narratives of contemporary writers of the African Diaspora that reflect on the brutality of slavery, the commodification of the Black body, and the efforts of resistance against cultural erasure and oppression. By studying these works, we will discuss the global impact of slavery and the literary methods used to address the institution, the propaganda of pro-slavery literature, and the pervasive stereotypes employed to justify the continued enslavement of African and African-descended peoples. Possible authors for study may include Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, Octavia Butler, Toni Morrison, and Colson Whitehead.

Prerequisite: Junior standing or above.