Ideas about race and racial divisions have assumed many different shapes during U.S. history, changing in response to such events as the abolition of slavery, segregation, and the Civil Rights movement. This proseminar explores representations of race in American literature across multiple historical periods and a range of genres and modes, offering a framework for understanding the cultural, political, and historical forces that have shaped the color line in the United States. It also considers phenomena such as racial passing and appropriation as well as how American literary texts have imagined – and questioned – the possibility of a “post-racial” society.
- Enseignant·e: Michael Boyden