Literature

This course is designed to provide an introduction to the study of the literature produced by African-American writers in the social, historical, and political context of the United States. But we are also aware that the designation “African-American” might refer, as well, to peoples of African descent in various parts of the New World complex, from Canada to the southern tip of the United States, from Florida to the Yucatan, and from Cuba and the Caribbean across Central and South America. This course is devoted to an examination of writing and its creative product across the genres of fiction, poetry, and social critique from roughly the middle of the nineteenth century to the early twenty-first.

This course will examine the life, work and influence of Murasaki Shikibu, author of the Tale of Genji (c. 1005-1015 CE), taking into consideration the intellectual and aesthetic heritage of the Heian era as a whole. Students will also investigate the arts and culture of her age, her concept of Yamato-damashii, or “essential Japanness,” and her vision of the role of the author within the “floating world” of human actions.

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.