Proseminar: "of water rains & dead": Bodies of Water in African American Literature [FS 24]

From rains, storms, and floods, to rivers, lakes, and swamps, to the Atlantic Ocean – water is an important and recurrent motif in African American literary works. In this proseminar, we will examine the rich portrayal of diverse bodies of water and their literal and symbolic meanings within varrying literary forms, such as, novels, short stories, poems, and an autobiography. Through a careful analysis of texts by Toni Morrison, Jesmyn Ward, M. NourbeSe Philip, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, and Derek Walcott, students will explore the liberating and oppressing power of water in African American literature. Moreover, students will analyze how water becomes a key metaphor reflecting the historical, social, political, and economic complexities of the African American experience, including spirituality, community, the Middle passage, slavery, migration, and, the quest for freedom and equality.