127011 KO Critical Readings in Literature (2024W)

When African American abolitionist Sojourner Truth in her speech at the 1851 women’s rights convention allegedly asked “ain’t I a woman?”, she challenged the very terms of what it meant to be a woman by shedding light on the various forms of oppression impacting Black women in North America. This course examines the history of Black feminist writing and activism from the 19th century until today. We pursue the question of what is meant by literary activism – can literature be a vehicle for change? – and draw on a variety of texts to explore the rich tradition of Black women’s activist writing. We will read and discuss different text forms such as essays, speeches, letters, poems, pamphlets, memoirs, and art by activists and writers from the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean, written in a fight for abolition and at the intersections of gender, class, sexuality, anti-racism, anti-colonialism, and anti-imperialism. Black feminists have made fundamental contributions to an intersectional and interrelated understanding of different fights against oppression across geographies. We will thus look at Black feminist liberation movements in North America and their articulations of solidarity with other fights for freedom. How have themes of community, self and collective care, spirituality, and sexuality informed political activist writings? We will also consider contemporary literary writings and articulations for activist purposes that draw on Black feminist legacies and join today’s pressing demands for global solidarity.

Throughout the semester, we will read and discuss selected texts by Anna Julia Cooper, Assata Shakur, Angela Y. Davis, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, June Jordan, and Alexis Pauline Gumbs, among others. Since activism and activist writing is nourished through the collective, students will also engage in collaborative work during the class. We will create a zine (short booklet with different texts) together, to which everyone is asked to contribute a text. Besides critical reading, we will engage in academic and creative writing tasks.

There will be a guest lecture by curator and researcher Tonica Hunter on Nov. 26.

Course outcomes:

- Students will develop an understanding of the history of Black women’s activism in North America and be able to put the selected different texts in context and in conversation.
- Students will understand and analyze how different forms of oppression in terms of race, gender, sexuality, class, and disability intersect.
- Students will get an understanding of the different text formats used for political purposes.
- Students will be able to apply the knowledge obtained in this course to write critical essays on selected texts.
- Students will improve their academic and creative writing skills by producing their own texts with the given examples.