Academic Bulletin English - 2011-12 - 370 ENG 370

This course will examine the themes of migration and immigration in African-American literature from the captivity narrative of early America to the 21st century. We will examine the African-American relationship with Africa from the early stages of separation to the movements of reclamation. We will also look at contemporary works that detail immigration from the continent of Africa, the Global South, and Canada. The writers we will read are preoccupied with defining their identities as people, and not as captive. We will move from slavery to freedom, through Reconstruction, post-WWII, through the Civil Rights era and into contemporary society by reading the works of authors like: Olaudah Equiano, Nella Larsen, Jean Toomer, Ralph Ellison, Chester Himes, Dorothy West, Maya Angelou, Audre Lorde, Dione Brand, Toni Morrison, Edwidge Danticatt, Shay Youngblood, and Chris Abani. The texts reflect African-American migration from the rural South to the urban North, immigration from the Global South to the United States, expatriations to France and even “back” to Africa. The readings are compiled to allow us to explore the question: What is an “African-American?”