Writers from many racial groups have contributed to the richness of American literature. However, rather than attempt an inclusive but superficial survey ("if this is Tuesday, we must be on Native Americans"), this course will focus on race relations between the two groups whose interactions have dominated the American literary imagination: African Americans and Caucasians. Using works by writers from both groups, we will examine some of the ways in which American literature has dealt with racial issues. Among the course's concerns are concepts of racial identity, the images that blacks and whites offer of each other, overt and subtle forms of racism, possibilities for interracial friendship, the intersection of race and gender, and ways in which the writers reflect and/or transcend the cultures from which they come.
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