2:30p-3:45p TR (30) 3 cr.
TOPIC: INTERRACIAL LITERATURE AND AMERICAN CULTURE
This course will focus on the ways in which "multiracial" or “interracial” identity has functioned in American literature from the early years of the republic to the present, but mainly with reference to the post-Civil War period. The focus will be on "black-white" interracial couples and the offspring of same, with attention to the role of gender and sexuality in racial ideology. How the issues relate to current debates in critical race theory and other discussions of "identity" will be taken up. We will consider both classic literary texts and those less well known, as well as non-literary sources from law and popular culture. We will consider the uses of representations of interracial couples and their offspring to both sustain and challenge the social-political uses of race in the U.S.
Readings will include works by Mark Twain, Charles Chesnutt, Frances Harper, Jean Toomer, Nella Larsen, Langston Hughes, William Faulkner, and others. Requirements will probably include two essay exams, occasional short papers, and a term paper of 8-10 pages.