This course examines a series of narratives about the experience of Black enslavement and the question of “freedom” written over a two-hundred-year period. It begins with so-called slave narratives written by formerly enslaved individuals in the nineteenth century who offered first-hand accounts of slavery to make a case for recognition of Black humanity and for slavery’s abolition. The course then moves to a series of so-called neo-slave narratives, contemporary fictionalized accounts of enslavement that explore the meaning of both bondage and freedom in the past and for our present. Along the way, we will consider a range of short theoretical writings by Black Studies scholars and historians of slavery that will inform our understanding of what it means to revisit the 400-year history of Atlantic slavery in the present moment.
Spring 2025
Meeting:
TTh 1:30pm - 3:20pm / LOW 106
SLN:
14129
Section Type:
Lecture
Instructor:
ADD CODE FROM INSTRUCTOR PD 3
Syllabus Description (from Canvas):
Catalog Description:
Atlantic slavery's impress on culture and politics from 1619 to the present through comparison of literature written before and after Emancipation. Treats historical slave narratives and other archives of slavery in relation to contemporary narratives of social death, captivity, and incarceration. Explores transformation of ideas of "bondage" and "freedom" over time.
GE Requirements Met:
Diversity (DIV)
Arts and Humanities (A&H)
Credits:
5.0
Status:
Active
Last updated:
January 31, 2025 - 9:26 am