African American Literature and the Archive (=ENG 287)

Catalog description

This course explores how a variety of archives, from an authors’ personal papers to institutional special collections, both inform and are represented in African American literature. What new literary forms and histories might be discovered through archival research? How might African American literary texts model more equitable and justice-oriented approaches to archives and the practice of archiving? The course will consider these questions through close readings of texts by writers like Gloria Naylor, Erna Brodber, John Keene, and Roger Reeves and through visits to Davidson Special collections and bookstores for rare, Black books. Satisfies Africana Studies major requirement. Satisfies English major requirement. (Innovation) Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement. Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.