Literature & Culture: Gender Politics in the Black Arts Movement (AL,DU - 4 credits)
Covering a time range from the 1960s to the 1970s, this course centers on the gender politics of the Black Arts Movement (BAM), cultural wing of the Black Power Movement. This course asks what was the gender dynamics in the 1960s New Left, and how did gender matter in the Black Power movements national liberatory agenda? Throughout the semester, we will read works by African American writers and activists like Toni Cade Bambara, Amina Baraka, Amiri Baraka, Ron Milner, Sonia Sanchez, Jayne Cortez, Audre Lorde, Barbara Smith, to name a few, which will set our discussions in grassroots and working class contexts. Taking race, gender, class, and sexuality as frameworks, this course aims at understanding gender politics in the BAM through Black feminist and Black internationalist perspectives.
Instructor: Jia Zhang