² Race, Tragedy and Gothic Literatures in the Americas
 
 

Jana Evans Braziel, Instructor (545-3402)

COMLIT 141W, Spring 2000, MWF 10:10 AM

Office: Bartlett 15; Office hours: M 1:30-2:30
 
 

I. Course Description

In this course, the issues of good and evil are explored through race, tragedy and gothic literatures in the Americas, both the U.S. and the Caribbean, areas exhibiting a fusion of eastern, western, African, European, and indigenous cultural traditions. In this course, we will examine francophone, anglophone, and hispanophone texts—with African diasporic, Amerindien, and créole influences—from Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States of America. The tension between European colonialists, enslaved Africans and indigenous or native peoples in the ‘New World’ establishes an historical frame for examining race, tragedy and gothic literatures in the Americas in the twentieth century. We will attempt to define (or redefine) America, Americanness, and modernity, as well as examining how these (nationalist) categories have been constructed in relation to metaphysical notions of good and evil and ontological, essentialist definitions of race. Through the literary texts, we will explore how communities understand goodness, confront evil, and address historical tragedy through the processes of memory, revision and imagination.
 
 

II. Required books

Available from Atticus Albion Bookstore (across from Amherst Common)

required Texts:

Bessie Smith, The Complete Recordings, Volume 5—The Final Chapter. SONY/Columbia.  AISN B0000029DJ.
William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!  New York: Vintage International Books, 1990.  ISBN 0679732187

Aime Césaire, Notebook of a Return to the Native Land.
Toni Morrison, Sula.  New York: New American Library Trade.  ISBN 0452263492
-----. Paradise. New York: Plume Books, 1999.  ISBN 0452280397
Edwidge Danticat, The Farming of Bones. New York: Penguin, 1999.  ISBN 0140280499
Julia Alvarez, In the Time of Butterflies. New York: Penguin, 1995.  ISBN 0452274427

recommended Texts:
Eric Paul Roorda, The Dictator Next Door: The Good Neighbor Policy and the Trujillo Regime in the Dominican Republic,

Edward Albee, The Death of Bessie Smith. New York: New American Library Trade, 1988.  ISBN 0452260833

III. Course Policies

Attendance—Three absences are allowed during the semester. If you are ill, verification will be

required. All unexcused absences beyond the initial three will result in a final course grade reduction of half a letter grade per day. Students who miss more than 6 absences during the semester will fail the course.

Academic Honesty—The Undergraduate Rights & Responsibilities. 1996-1997., distributed by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and the Provost, states: "Intellectual honesty requires that students demonstrate their own learning during examinations and other academic exercises, and that other sources of information or knowledge be appropriately credited. Scholarship depends upon the reliability of information and reference in the work of others. No form of cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, or facilitating of dishonesty will be condoned in the University community" (32).

IV. Course Requirements

Class Participation (15% of final course grade): Requires regular attendance; interaction with other students in group discussions; participation in class discussion; completion of brief written responses (in-class or over-night) to questions germane to the literary texts. ACTIVE PARTICIPATION includes DISCUSSION!! YOU MUST BE PREPARED TO TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE READ!!

Quizzes (20%): In order to evaluate reading preparation and lecture comprehension, short quizzes will be given throughout the semester, usually on Friday mornings. (8 quizzes total; each worth 2.5 % of grade). If you have no more than three absences during the semester, you may drop the lowest quiz grade and have the highest quiz grade counted twice toward the quiz average.

Oral Presentation (15%): Each student will participate in a group presentation on a topic related to course materials. The groups will formulate no less than 5-6 discussion questions related to one (or more) of the authors, collaboratively preparing a 1-2 page handout for class distribution (30 photocopies of handout needed). Additionally, each individual student will submit typewritten notes (2-3 pages) of materials that she or he researched and prepared for the presentation in order to ensure that the work is equally distributed among group members. The presentations will be approximately 25-30 minutes in length, generating substantial class discussion (led by the group, but also facilitated by the instructor) about the selected topic. Groups may be chosen; groups will be assigned only if necessary. A topic list will be distributed during Week 2.

Examinations (25%): The midterm examination (12.5%) and the final examination (12.5%) will both consist of a 5-6 page written exam (short answers; discussion questions; and an essay question), evaluating your ability to critically analyze the assigned literary texts and to discuss the works in relation to the themes of the course. For the exams, the written responses should utilize analytical prose, correct grammar and punctuation. The responses should intelligently explore ideas generated by the novels and essays read prior to the examination date.

Papers (25%): Students will write two papers (12.5% each) for the course based on the following guidelines: the papers will consist of a comparative analysis of three texts related to the course themes. The paper should explore the issues of good and evil as written about in texts exploring race, tragedy and the gothic in literature. Topics may be individually designed or assigned, if preferred. Format: 8-12 pages (double-spaced; typed); 10-12 point font (no cursive fonts please); 1" margins. Due Dates: February 25 and April 21 by 4:30 pm.; leave in the Comparative Literature Department, 303 South College.
 

V. READING SCHEDULE

Week 1 Section 1. Introduction to Course

Wed., Jan. 26 Review of Syllabus and Course Requirements

Fri., Jan. 28 Lecture: Race and American Culture

Week 2

Mon., Jan. 31 Frantz Fanon, "The Fact of Blackness" from Black Skin, White Masks Quiz

Wed., Feb. 2 Selections from The Wretched of the Earth: Jean-Paul Sartre, "Preface"; Fanon, "Conclusion"

Fri., Feb. 4 Video: Black Skin, White Masks (directed by Isaac Julien)

Week 3 2/7-2/11

Mon., Feb. 7 Erskine Caldwell, "Kneel to the Rising Sun"

Wed., Feb. 9 Faulkner, "Dry September"

Fri., Feb. 11 W.E.B. Dubois, "On the Coming of John" Quiz #1

                                                                                    Presentation #1 (Week 4): The Life and Music of Bessie Smith
Week 4 2/14-2/18

Mon., Feb. 14 Bessie Smith Collection, Volume 5

Wed., Feb. 16 Video: St. Louis Blues

Fri., Feb. 18 Edward Albee, The Death of Bessie Smith Quiz #2

Week 5 2/21-2/25 Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!

first paper Due by FRIDAY, FEB. 25 AT 4:30 pm / no class ON FRIDAY

Week 6 2/38-3/3 Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom! Quiz #3

Week 7 3/3-3/10 Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!

Week 9 3/20-3/24 Césaire, Notebook of a Return to the Native Land Quiz #4

Week 10 3/27-3/31 Morrison, Sula Quiz #5

Week 11 4/3-4/7 Morrison, Paradise

Week 12 4/10-4/14 Morrison, Paradise Quiz #6

Week 13 4/17-4/21 Danticat, The Farming of Bones

Week 15 5/1-5/5 Alvarez, In the Time of Butterflies

Week 16 5/8-5/10 Alvarez, In the Time of Butterflies

Finals Week 5/13-5/19 Final examination date tbA