ENG 274 - Reading African American Literature: Twenty-First Century Writing

Course unit(s): 1
Meets GAR (students beginning prior to Fall 2024): Meets general academic requirement DE and HU.
Meets Explore Core requirement (students beginning Fall 2024 and later): RP
Meets requirement: W
In this course, we will examine current African American literature. While our explorations will center primarily around novels, memoirs, short stories, and essays published in the twenty-first century, we will be in constant conversation with African American literature of the past, as the rich historical traditions of the field have provided the foundation upon which contemporary African American literature stands. Throughout the semester, we will examine how twenty-first century African American literature is intertwined with both past and present events and how it is both shaped by and shapes some of the most pressing issues of our current moment – from mass incarceration; to immigration policies; to environmental justice; to international relations; to healthcare; to interracial solidarity movements; to advocacy for Black women, Black LGBTQIA+ communities, Black disabled communities, and other multiply marginalized Black voices; and more.
As we immerse ourselves in novels, short stories, memoirs, essays, and more by African American authors, we will ask ourselves the following questions – among others that we will dream up together: How do we decide – and who decides – which texts and authors are considered part of the African American literary tradition? Are Black authors who were born abroad but now live in the United States considered part of that tradition? What roles have gender, sexuality, complexion, and class played in establishing the “most famous” African American literary texts? What would it mean to center narratives by communities that are so often pushed to the margins, such as queer African American communities or disabled African American communities? What do our twenty-first century texts have in common with nineteenth-century texts and events? How does African American literature influence contemporary culture, activism, and social justice movements? For example, what is the relationship between contemporary African American literature and the Black Lives Matter Movement?

As we examine these questions and create new ones, we will move together through a literary tradition as vast as it is extraordinary, absorbing as much as we can of the resilience, beauty, complexity, and creativity that African American authors have gifted to the world for centuries – and that they continue to gift us with today. Together, we will examine the rich and multi-faceted traditions on which contemporary African American literature is founded, the dynamic present it continues to reflect and create, and the just future it can help us build. Satisfies departmental Reading X, Social Justice/BIPOC, and Prose requirements.