Language and the Illegibility of Black Women's Experiences of Violence

Catalog description

This course will investigate the experiences of Black women over the course of U.S. history in order to examine how the mechanism of language within different forms of legal discourse renders Black women's experiences of violence illegible. With a focus on Black women and Black mothers who identify as victims/survivors of sexual violence and/or domestic violence, this course considers how law and legal policies employ language through structures of punitivity and carcerality to shape the experiences of violence for Black women. Exploring key themes such as victim/victimhood, crime, violence, protection and safety, we will unpack recently released California parole board transcripts, historical and contemporary legal cases, "mandatory arrest" laws throughout the country, and antiviolence advocacy policies in Chicago. Course content will center alternative forms of knowledge produced by marginalized women and communities of color. Though much of the course will focus on legal cases, we will put these in dialogue with Black feminist interventions on race, gender, and the law so that we may develop a more robust critical reading praxis.