Topics in Literature: The Practice of Diaspora: Literatures of Race, Power, and Cultural Crossings

This course takes a transnational and comparative approach to geographies, literatures, and cultures of Africa and the Black diaspora. We will consider the intersection and overlap between a variety of Black diasporic cultures and literatures in places such as Ghana, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Indonesia, Germany, and Barbados. By doing so, we'll begin to gesture towards what Brent Hayes Edwards has called "the practice of diaspora." One part of this course is both a survey of Black diasporic literature and an introduction to ongoing debates about what constitutes Black diasporic literature. We will study a variety of literary genres and ask how formal and stylistic conventions, as well as shifting sociohistorical and sociopolitical circumstances, have shaped conceptions of Black diasporic literature. The second part will encourage us to think generatively about how we might use the concept and practice of diaspora as an organizing model for Black literary production on a global scale. Assignments will include a group curated glossary of key terms and an annotated bibliography. We will also work in teams to produce diasporic digital storytelling projects as part of the final. This course may fulfill the global or minority literatures requirement for students who declare an English major in the fall 2021 semester and beyond.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU IS; AS HUM; EL GML

Topics in Literature: The Practice of Diaspora: Literatures of Race, Power, and Cultural Crossings

ENGLISH LITERATURE 3525

Section 01