Time Schedule:
Delphine Gras
C LIT 240
Seattle Campus
Comparative approach to literature and a workshop in writing comparative papers in English. Emphasis on cross-cultural comparison of literary works. Readings in English with an option to read selected texts in the original languages Offered: AWSp.
Class description
The New Negro Flow: Harlem Renaissance, Negrista Movement, and Négritude. This course is comparative in method and approach. It traces the definition of Black modernity in the literature of the Americas in the first half of the 20th century. This period, in fact, offered the first international debate on the role of art in representing race. We will cover numerous genres (essays, plays, novels, poems) from the United States and the Caribbean, to illuminate the transnationalism that studies of one country or one race often. We will thus explore the stylistic similarities that arose among different movements throughout the African Diaspora in the Americas during the first half of the twentieth century and the debates on the role of art in opposing racism. Throughout the course we will address a variety of questions: How do the writers uphold their oral traditions and/or retain Africanisms? What is at stake in the creation of a canon that refuses genre categories? Which views on race, class, gender, and nationality do these works present? We will situate each work within its historical and social context, thus organizing the course around three main movements: the Harlem Renaissance in the United States (1919-1929), the Negrista Movement in the Spanish Caribbean (1926-1940), and Négritude in the French West Indies (1935-1960). Our exploration will, however, expand the conventional time boundaries of these movements so as to see the dialogue truly at work in the Americas during the first half of the twentieth century. The texts were written in English, Spanish, and French, but may be read in English translation. In addition there will be a reader with theoretical texts, short stories, and poems by authors like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Gwendolyn Bennett, Luis Palés Matos, Lydia Cabrera, and Suzanne Césaire. Required Texts 1. Césaire, Aimé. Return to my Native Land. New Castle: Bloodaxe, 1995. 2. Du Bois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk. New York: Vintage Books, 1990. 3. Guillén, Nicolás. Yoruba from Cuba: Selected Poems of Nicolás Guillén. Leeds: Peepal Tree Press, 2005. 4. Hughes, Langston. Five Plays. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1968. 5. McKay, Claude. Banjo: a Story without a Plot. San Diego: Harvest Books, 1970. 6. Course Reader, available at Rams Copy Center, 4144 University Way NE
Student learning goals
To strengthen your skills as a reader and a critical writer. We will thus discuss literature from different cultural traditions, paying close attention to the ways the works under study represent and address race.
To develop analytical reading skills: to be able to understand not just the narrative, but also the style, tone, genre, and literary strategies deployed by a writerTo develop analytical reading skills: to be able to understand not just the narrative, but also the writer’s style, tone, genre, and literary strategies.
To locate and construct arguments: to develop your analytical, synthesizing, and organizational skills in order to produce a coherent and convincing paper.
To support your claim with textual evidence and literary analysis: to engage with a text meaningfully, avoid paraphrase, and learn how to analyze the quotes used in your argumentation.
To elaborate your own research about a given topic: from response papers and analytical papers to comparative papers, your writing skills should improve and you will be given more freedom to elaborate your own research.
General method of instruction
The primary expectation is that students will actively engage with the texts in oral and written assignments. While there will be a strong emphasis on class participation, individually or in group, this is a composition class that entails a large amount of writing. We will have daily class discussions with specific in-class activities such as presentations and peer-editing sessions, as well as written assignments to enable students to elaborate their arguments orally and in writing, while getting the opportunity to share their ideas and obtaining regular feedback from their peers and instructor.
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
Oral Participation (class discussion, peer-editing...): 20% One Group Presentation: 10%
Written Weekly Response Papers: 20% Analytical Paper: 10% Comparative Paper: 20% Final Paper: 20%
