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CS92PROD
Black American Writers Telling (True) Stories
AFAM 308
Fall 2006 not offered
Crosslisting: ENGL 350

In this course we will read projects by Black American writers, which are considered in some way autobiographical. Texts will include traditional autobiographies, memoirs, autobiographical poetry and fiction, biopics based on information given by the subject, and autobiographical moments in critical projects. We will attend to the idea of autobiographical truth as a convention that refers as much to the genre of autobiography as to the authors' lives. Of particular interest will be the way silences and fictional events function in the true story. We will consider works of authors who might be said to conform to or rebel against the charge to tell proper stories of their lives. Our focus will be the political goals of publishing stories about one's life and the ways in which speaking as a Black person within the United States might complicate that telling. We will read the withholding of information, disclosure, and the altering of life details as potentially political acts. We will also ask ourselves how the claim to truth affects the authority and aesthetics of a text.

Essential Capabilities: None
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA AFAM
Course Format: Lecture/DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: None

Last Updated on MAR-28-2024
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