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20th Century Black Women Writers

ENGL 016.401
instructor(s):

This course seeks to examine the extraordinary and diverse landscape of African American women's writing.   Beginning in the early twentieth century and ending in the contemporary moment, the class will consider how African American women authors have wrestled with the themes of race, class, and sexuality in their texts.  Moreover, the course does not assume a static definition of African American women's writing, but examines how writers have challenged themselves and each other to think about what it means to be "American," "black," and "woman" at different historical moments and within varied artistic genres.  Some of the writers we will look at are: Nella Larsen, Zora Neale Hurston, Ann Petry, Dorothy West, Lorraine Hansberry, Gwendolyn Brooks, Paule Marshall, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, Toni Cade Bambara, Edwidge Danticat, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

fulfills requirements
Sector 2: Difference and Diaspora of the Standard Major
Sector 6: 20th Century Literature of the Standard Major