African American Writing, 1946-Present

Catalog description

Survey of contemporary African American writing. Considers the relationship among literature, freedom, and racial identity as a major preoccupation of Black intellectuals and writers, from slave narratives to current post-modern and hip-hop narratives. Black writers give special attention to the significance of race in literature, but does racial identity give a writer a special task as well as perspective? Is a Black writer one who happens to be Black or does his/her blackness obligate and/or empower this writer to write from a Black perspective? And, is this perspective inevitable given the writer’s racial experiences in this country? IC. PA-3B, PA-4A. CAS-B-LIT. Cross-listed with ENG 338 .