Department of English

This course explores the changing nature of African American narrative from its earliest inception in the slave narrative to its dynamic possibilities in the 21st century. We will begin with foundational texts by Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs to understand how slavery figures as a transformative experience for African Americans. Our discussion will highlight the different challenges men and women faced under conditions of bondage as well as various modes of resistance. We will then read two contemporary novels that re-imagine the slave experience as we begin to explore more recent African American narratives. Further discussions will focus on the dangerous allure of passing as well as what blackness means in the 21st century. Instructor: Stephanie Li

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