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ENG 32b: The Black Transnational Romance
Fall 2015
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Instructor: Gina Pugliese
Office and Office Hours: TBD
Email:
Classroom: Olin-Sang 116
Meeting Times: T&Th5:00-6:20 PM
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With a focus on black diaspora or transnational black literature, this course considers how novels about the experiences of globally dispersed black individuals (primarily from the US, Africa, and Caribbean) alternately bolster and challenge a sense of unified black consciousness. The idea of a unified black transnation—as it was variously imagined in the early 20th-century with the rise of black nationalist and Pan-African collectives—or diaspora—as we have come to think about a globally dispersed but distinct community of people in the late 20th and 21st centuries—is in itself a romance. This romance involves finding and celebrating a sense of home or belonging and solidarity with those who we recognize as sharing similar histories, experiences, desires, politics and/or understandings of self. Moreover, this course will examine how the romance novel, which we expect to inspire the exciting and beautiful feelings that come with finding love and community, also inspire “uglier affects” conveyed through violence, disappointment, anguish and tragedy as misapprehensions and misreadings persist between diasporic subjects and as the racist conditions of the present world make it difficult, but nevertheless urgent, to imagine hopeful, thriving black community.As we will see, even as misapprehensions and misreadings threaten a cohesive view of this imagined but robust diaspora, the novels we will read demonstrate an impulse to continually articulate, or piece together, a distinct and enduring black culture marked by both its moments of unification and difference. Following the conceptual framework offered by Stuart Hall, we will consider how “diaspora experience [might be] defined, not by essence or purity, but by the recognition of a necessary heterogeneity and diversity; by a conception of 'identity' which lives with and through, not despite, difference; by hybridity” (235).[1]
As we consider novels that span the 20th and 21st centuries, we will think about the topic of the course historically, attending to the consistencies and inconsistencies of black inter/nationalisms and the romance genre over time, and the social and political contexts that have influenced the genre and its understandings of race, gender, sexuality, and class. We will also examine the topic of the course thematically noting how the romance challenges discourses of racial purity and white supremacy while looking toward a future of black inter/nationalism (in Rupert Gray and The Dark Princess); how mystical and/or science fiction elements are employed in the romance to imagine a sense of African origin and connectivity in the black diaspora (in Of One Blood and Wild Seed); how colonial history and an idyllic rural setting affect understandings of the future of a black community in Jamaica (in Banana Bottom); “critical romances” that criticize current social and political situations while fervently expressing a desire for a romance that may not be possible in the present(Quicksand and The Book of Not); the question of the post-racial romance and the extent to which ideologies about race continue to affect narrative form and imagined futures offered in the romance (Americanahand Between the World and Me).
COURSEMATERIALS
Required Texts:
W.E.B. Du Bois, The Dark Princess(1928)
Stephen Cobham, Rupert Gray(1907)
Pauline Hopkins, Of One Blood: Or, The Hidden Self(1903)
Octavia Butler, Wild Seed(1980)
Claude McKay, Banana Bottom(1933)
Nella Larsen, Quicksand(1928)
Tsitsi Dangarembga, The Book of Not(2006)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah(2013)
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me(2015)
Readings on LATTE:
Additional required and recommended readings for this course will be uploaded to LATTE if they are not already printed in a course pack. You are expected to print these documents and bring them with you to class on the days they will be discussed. Failure to bring hard copies of readings to class will negatively affect your participation grade.
ASSIGNMENTS
LATTE postsmake up a significant amount of the written work you are expected to do for this class. All LATTE posts and The Digital Life of the Black Romance update postsare expected to beat least 300 words long. LATTE postsmay include questions to take up in class discussion and/or may reference particular passages from assigned texts you wish to furtheranalyze in class together. The Digital Life of the Black Romance posts will reflect information you find interesting in the digital media you follow and may include links, quotes, images, and any relevant texts accompanied by your own brief and original analysis.
You will also give a couple of presentations throughout the semester. The first presentation will be on a critical article about one of the novels we read in class. After you are assigned a specific novel to research at the beginning of the semester, you will independently locate a scholarly essay about the novel. The article you find through the Brandeis Library and Technology System (LTS) should be recent (written in the past 5 years). If you need assistance finding a good, recent article to use, please seek help from me or any of the humanities research librarians. During your 10-15 minute presentation you will summarize the main argumentsand analytical points of the article and provide a handout or PowerPoint presentation for the class that offers the general outline of your presentation, any significant quotes you want to share from the article, and 2-3 questions to pose to the class for further discussion. During the week(s) we study the novel you present on, you will not be expected to post on LATTE about the novel.Your second presentation will also be a 10-15 minute presentation about the digital media you’ve researched throughout the semester. For this presentation you will give an overview of the media you tracked and studied, and you will elaborate on how your research has enriched your understanding of the themes and critical vocabulary we developed in class.
Finally, you will write one essayon one novel from this syllabus. This essay will be broken up into three assignments with a separate due date for the 1-page paper proposal, the 5-6-page rough draft and the 7-10-page final draft. You are encouraged but not required to use any secondary readings introduced in the course to help you develop your own original argument about and analysis of the novel. The form of the essay should reflect the standard university-level writingyou practice(d) in UWS and will include: a thesis that you present in your introduction and evolve and reiterate throughout the paper; body paragraphs that start with clear topic sentences and offer evidence and accompanying close analysis of the novel; a conclusion that does not simply summarize the points and organization of your essay but underscores an important idea that you want to leave with your reader to further consider and debate.
EVALUATION
Attendance and Participation 10%
Assignments
LATTE posts (about 15 total)35%
Essay 1 paper proposal, 1 page 5%
Essay 1complete rough draft, 5-6 pages 10%
Essay 1final, expanded draft, 7-10 pages20%
The Digital Life of the Black Romance(6 updates) 10%
The Digital Life of the Black Romance presentation 5%
Critical article and discussion question presentation 5%
POLICIES
ATTENDANCEYou are allowed two absences for the semester without penalty to your grade. Whatever the reasons for these absences are your concern and need not be approved by me. When you miss a class, it is your responsibility to seek out a fellow class member for notes and/or a summary of the course content you missed. If you are absent from class more than three times, your attendance and participation grade will go down one full letter grade for each additional absence. Seven or more total absences will result in a failing grade for this course.
PARTICIPATIONSince this course is not a lecture course, you will be expected to come prepared to ask questions and contribute to the discussion and overall intellectual community of the classroom. You are also expected to bring assigned reading materials with you to class—novels (no ebooks) or hard copies of PDFs from LATTE. You will find that it is easier to contribute to class and have a firmer grasp on the reading materials if you underline in the text and take notes (either in the margins or on a separate sheet of paper). Note taking and underlining will also help you when it comes time to write your LATTE posts and essays.
NO ELECTRONICS No laptops, no cell phones, no tablets or other electronicsunless otherwise specified for special in-class projects and presentations. Please keep cell phones silent and out of sight.
FORMATTING ESSAYSEssays should be typed in 12-point, Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with 1 inch margins. Your last name and a page number should occupy the header on each page after the first page. All citations must be in MLA format. Please visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) to learn about or refresh yourself on proper MLA format:
SUBMITTING WORK ELECTRONICALLY AND ON TIMEAll assignments for this course will be submitted electronically. You must format all of your work as .doc or .docx files. I rarely give extensions, but if you have a good reason for needing one, please try to notify me at least one week in advance of the due date. Late LATTE posts will not be accepted for grading. You will not be able to reschedule or make up any missed presentation work. Essay proposals and drafts will go down 3 percentage points each day the assignment is late.
WRITNG CENTER Brandeis offers a great and free resource to students for writing help at its Writing Center (locatedon the Mezzanine of the Goldfarb Library). To find out more about this resource, see the Brandeis Writing Center website. Please carefully review the center’s policies and instructions on how to make an appointment before you arrange to meet with a writing tutor. As an incentive for you to use this resource, I will give you one 24 hour paper extensionon your paper proposal, rough draft and final essay due dateif you receive any help on your essay from the Writing Center before the assignment is due. In order to verify that you made and attended an appointment, please ask your tutor for a Consultation Overview Form and submit this form to me (scan it and email it to me or give it to me in class) before the due date of the essay. While you are welcome to go to the Writing Center multiple times for help on any of your assignments, I will only grant one 24 hour extension per essay assignment.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITYIt is crucial that the work you present is original and that, when you use outside sources, you cite them appropriately. The Brandeis policy on academic integrity is available in the Rights and Responsibilities Handbook (available online). Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Department of Student Development and Conduct for possible referral to the Student Judicial System, and may carry severe consequences. If you have any questions or concerns about citation, plagiarism, or academic standards of originality, please ask.
DISABILITIES If you have special needs related to this course, please contact me about these issues. If you require special accommodations for this course, you will need to provide a letter from Brandeis’ Disabilities Services and Support department outlining what your particular needs include. Information is available at the Disabilities Resources website.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week One
Th 8/27Introduction to the course
LATTE post due Monday 31 August by 10 PM: Introduce yourself, explain why you are taking this class, and share your initial thoughts and understanding of romance, black diaspora, and what the two have to do with each other.
Week Two
T 9/1W.E.B. Du Bois, The Dark Princess, Parts I & II
LATTE post due Wednesday 9/2by 10 PM: Thoughts about class materials and discussion on first day; initial thoughts and questions about The Dark Princess.
Th 9/3The Dark Princess, Part III
LATTE post due Monday 9/7 by 10 PM: Thoughts and questions about The Dark Princess
The Digital Life of the Black Romance topic proposal due before Tuesday’s class. A brief assignment description is included below, under the 9/8 assignment description.Please note: you cannot begin the assignment due on 9/16 before your topic is approved.
Week Three
T 9/8The Dark Princess, Part IV
LATTE post due Wednesday 9/16 by 10 PM: Thoughts and questions about Rupert Gray
The Digital Life of the Black Romance update due Wednesday 9/16 by 10 PM: Pick a current topic, trend, or idea about race and society that you plan to track through a specific form of digital media throughout the semester. Ideally your focus will also involve global concepts of blackness or illuminate the black diaspora in some notable way. You will also want to have a good argument for how romance is evident in your chosen area of research (the romance of community; unified consciousness; distinct black identity and/or culture; hopeful black futurity). You may choose to track a blog, Internet meme, activist/activist movement with a strong web presence, FaceBook personality, YouTube channel, online discussion thread or forum . . . Your topic may be dispersed across a variety of digital platforms too, depending on your focus. Provide any applicable and important information about the media and topic you are attending to: the title;the creator and/or contributors; a link to the onlinecontent; what the topic you are trackingis generally about; amission statement or manifesto; a brief history about how this idea or group emerged. What are some of the recent topics or articles posted in relation to your topic? How would you describe the general community of commenters that participate in or respond to your topic?Why did you pick this particular topic?
Th 9/10 Monday’s schedule; no class
Week Four
T 9/15 No class
Th 9/17Stephen Cobham, Rupert Gray, Chapts. I-XI
LATTE post due Monday 9/21 by 10 PM: Thoughts and questions about Rupert Gray
Week Five
T 9/22Rupert Gray, Chapts. XII-XIX; student critical article presentation
The Digital Life of the Black Romance update due Wednesday 9/23 by 10 PM: Update about recent posts, events and comments on the digital media you follow
Th 9/24Pauline Hopkins, Of One Blood, I-XI
LATTE post due Wednesday 9/30 by 10 PM: Thoughts about Of One Blood
Week Six
T 9/29 Monday’s schedule; no class
Th 10/1Of One Blood, XII-Epilogue; student critical article presentation
LATTE post due Monday 10/5 by 10 PM: Thoughts about Of One Blood or Wild Seed
Digital Life post due Monday 10/5 by 10 PM
Week Seven
T 10/6Octavia Butler, Wild Seed, Book One
LATTE post due Wednesday 10/7 by 10 PM: Thoughts about Wild Seed
Th 10/8Wild Seed, Book Two; student critical article presentation
LATTE post due Monday 10/12 by 10 PM: Thoughts about Wild Seedor Banana Bottom
Week Eight
T 10/13Claude McKay, Banana Bottom, Chapts. 1-7
Digital Life post due Wednesday 10/14 by 10 PM
Th 10/15Banana Bottom, Chapts. 8-20
LATTE post due Monday 10/19 by 10 PM: Thoughts about Banana Bottom
Week Nine
T 10/20Banana Bottom, Chapts. 21-32; student critical article presentation
LATTE post due Wednesday 10/21 by 10 PM: Thoughts about Banana Bottom or Quicksand
Th 10/22 Nella Larsen, Quicksand, Chapts 1-11
LATTE post due Monday 10/26 by 10 PM: Thoughts about Quicksand
Week Ten
T 10/27Quicksand, Chapts. 11-25; student critical article presentation
Digital Life post due Wednesday 10/28 by 10 PM
Th 10/29 Monday schedule; No class
Week Eleven
T 11/3 Tsitsi Dangarembga, The Book of Not, Chapts. 1-6
LATTE post due Monday 11/2 by 10 PM: Thoughts about The Book of Not
Th 11/5 The Book of Not, Chapts. 7-9
Paper proposal due today at 10 PM: A short introduction paragraph or two on your proposed paper topic, outlining the main ideas and arguments you want to pursue in a 5-6 page essay. Be detailed and thorough!
Week Twelve
T 11/10 The Book of NotChapts 10-14; student critical article presentation
LATTE post due Wednesday 11/11 by 10 PM: Thoughts about The Book of Notor Americanah
Th 11/12 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah, Part I Chapts 1-11
Essay due Monday11/16 by 10 PM
Week Thirteen
T 11/17 Americanah, Finish Part I, Part II and Part III Chapts 23-24
LATTE post due Wednesday 11/18 by 10 PM: Thoughts about Americanah
Th 11/19 Americanah, Finish Part III and Part IV
Digital Life post due Monday 11/23 by 10 PM
Week Fourteen
T 11/24 Americanah, Parts V, VI, and VII; student critical article presentation
Th 11/26 No class
Week Fifteen
T 12/1 Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
Th 12/3 Presentations
LATTE post due Monday 12/7 by 10 PM: Final thoughts about Between the World and Me, the class in general, and how your final paper ideas are progressing.
Week Sixteen
T 12/8 Presentations
Th 12/10 No class; last day of classes December 9
Final exam period December 11-18
Final papers (revised and expanded essay 1, 7-10 pages) due Tuesday 12/15 by 10 PM
[1] Stuart Hall, “Cultural Identity and Diaspora,” Framework no. 36, p. 235