AfroLatina/o Literature

Catalog description

This course is an examination of AfroLatina/o Literature. We will look closely at the immense contributions of Black Latina/o writers throughout the hemisphere. The course is organized around readings that have been central to the development of Afro Latin@/x Literature: poetry, prose, fiction, memoir, literary criticism, plays, solo performance art and spoken word. We will also examine primary documents such as speeches, diaries, letters, narratives and testimonios, as well as other ethnographic materials. Through close reading, core lectures and dialectical discussion we will survey the literary universe of AfroLatina/os and intersections of gender, Blackness, sexuality, class, Latinidad, and queerness. The goal of the course is to contribute to the development of literary appreciation and a confident and coherent understanding of major currents and themes in Afro Latin@/x Literature and to encourage further study, and promote future cultural and literary production. The course is a writing intensive, designed to elevate the ability to translate and synthesize ideas in writing, both academically and creatively and to provide a “brave space†(to borrow a term coined by bell hooks) where creative writers can experiment and grow in the craft of writing. ​ Students will be assigned critical papers, creative projects and will do in-class workshop writing.