Department of English

W.E.B. Du Bois and the Poetics of Heartbreak

In Black Reconstruction in America, Du Bois writes: “What was slavery in the United States? Just what did it mean to the owner and the owned?” But these are trick questions in a work of history that dwells in the moment of slavery’s endtime to consider the failure of emancipation and reconstruction to materialize black freedom. The questions become, What was jubilee? Just what did it mean? Did slavery end? 

This course examines Du Bois’ six decade struggle to come to terms, in language, with the receding promise of emancipation (which he called the “negro apocalypse”). We trace the poetics of heartbreak in John Brown, The Souls of Black Folk, Black Reconstruction in America (selections), Dusk of Dawn, Dark Princess and other writings.

Course requirements will include an oral presentation and two short essays.