ENGL 3742 - [Africans and African Americans in Literature]

(crosslisted) AMST 3732, ASRC 3742, SHUM 3742
(ALC-AS, CA-AS, HST-AS)

Spring. Not offered: 2023-2024. Next offered: 2024-2025. 3 credits. Student option grading.

This course satisfies the Literatures of the Global South and post-1800 requirements for English majors.

M. Ngugi.

When an African and an African American meet, solidarity is presumed, but often friction is the result. In this course, we will consider how Africans and African Americans see each other through literature. What happens when two peoples suffering from double consciousness meet? We will examine the influence of historical forces including slavery, colonialism and pan-Africanism on the way writers explore the meeting between Africans and African Americans. Specifically we will look at how writers and political figures such as Maya Angelou, Chimamanda Adichie, Richard Wright, Eugene Robinson, Philippe Wamba, Martin Luther King Junior and Malcolm X have understood the meeting.