230246 Black Voices (S) (WiSe 2014/2015)

This course will chart a variety of texts by major African American and Afro Caribbean voices from the colonial period to the present. In a broader cultural studies framework the course discusses identity politics, authorial positionality, assimilation, affirmation, and resistance in their relation to African American and Afro Caribbean cultural production. Literary genres included are poetry, short stories, manifestoes, essays, plays, and novels. Audio-visual genres will include poetry performances, music, and film clips. The SoCaRe conference on Caribbean Cultures and Resistance (Bielefeld ZiF, Center for Interdisciplinary Research, Jan 21-24, 2015) is part of the course program. Students are required to participate in selected panels of the conference to get full credit. Students interested in this course should also consider enrolling in the course offered by visiting professor Giselle Anatol (The University of Kansas, USA) on Caribbean women writers and resistance (block late January/early February).