LTA2446: Literature of Black Atlantic

LVA2446 Joy, Beauty, Justice: Literature of the Black Atlantic
Intermediate Liberal Arts

_The Black Atlantic_ is a term used to describe the deep cultural and artistic connections among people of African descent relocated by the slave trade throughout the Americas and Europe. While it often evokes the horrors of the Middle Passage, slavery, and ongoing racist legacies, literature produced by African peoples in Africa, Europe, and the Americas also constitutes an archive of strength, resistance, and even joy in the face of injustice and oppression. We will read literature from the Black Atlantic with this transformative potential in mind. Beginning with the slave narrative, the course will sample literary production from the three continents, noting shared formal and imaginative characteristics, and ending with the most vibrant work by contemporary literary artists of the African diaspora.

Prerequisites: (FCI1000 or AHS1000) and (WRT1000 or RHT1000)