ENGL 264, Studies in African American Literature "Some of Us Are Brave": Black Women's Writing, Spring 2014

Abstract

This is a READING INTENSIVE course that will survey several works of fiction (particularly novels) written by black women. It considers how, in 1892, against the muddled sound of neo-American racism and sexism, a voice rang clear from the South: “Only the BLACK WOMAN can say when and where I enter, in the quiet, undisputed dignity of my womanhood, without violence and without suing or special patronage, then and there the whole Negro race enters with me.” Taking Anna Julia Cooper’s words as an epistemological consideration, this course surveys how black women negotiated complex racial and gender identities within their literature. Beginning with Phillis Wheatley and ending with contemporary black women’s writing, this course will highlight how the unique intersections of marginalized subjectivities shaped particular lived experiences.