Cultural Memory in the Writing of the Black DiasporaLaajuus (5 cr)

Objective

Learning outcomes: On completion of the course the successful student will be able to - Recognize the significance of memory in the fiction of the black diaspora - Understand the main outlines of personal and cultural memory and trauma - Analyze the meanings of the memory of slavery in black fiction The course develops the following working life skills: Language skills, connecting literary works to socio-cultural contexts related to specific countries, multidisciplinarity, argumentation skills, research skills, meaning-making, time management and prioritization skills, systematic thinking, managing large entities Generic competences: ethics, internationality, sustainability and responsibility, critical thinking, identification and development of expertise, interaction and communication

Content

The course will emphasize the importance of the sociocultural and historical contexts and political meanings of literary works. Students will examine the ways in which the cultural memory of slavery functions in contemporary black literatures, especially African American and Caribbean fiction. These issues will be examined through and applied to selected texts, which focus such themes as racial violence, black urban experience, music, and rewriting the past.

Qualifications

Basic Studies, 2130445 Nineteenth-Century Realisms: Race, Class, and Gender and 2130446 Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Literature: Modern and Contemporary Narratives

Materials

Charles Johnson, Middle Passage (1990) Toni Morrison, Jazz (1992) Edwidge Danticat, Breath, Eyes, Memory (1994) The Emmett Till case; excerpts from James Baldwin, Blues for Mister Charlie (1964) Daniel Black, The Sacred Place (2007) Bernice L. McFadden, The Gathering of Waters (2012) Bernardine Evaristo, Blonde Roots (2008)

Further information

Time: 3rd-5th year of study Key words: memory, slavery, ethnic literatures, black diaspora, African American fiction, race Campus: Joensuu Further information: Language of tuition: English The course is open to international exchange students

Accomplishment methods

Modes of study: Lectures (14 h), independent work (121 h) Evaluation criteria: Final essay (ca. 4000 words)