African American Literature (College) - Course Introduction

We can understand if you're already feeling a little overwhelmed by our to-read list in this literary survey course. We cover a whole lot of literature, and in not a lot of time. Just as we finish a chapter or two of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, we're jumping ahead to the journalistic works of Ida B. Wells, or the poetry of Maya Angelou.

Did we say "or"? We meant "and."

It's a lot, we know. And then we go and make things even more complex by throwing history and historical context into the mix. And we don't mean fun, goofy stuff like 70s fashion, or the invention of the first refrigerator. We're talking about some of the darkest moments and trends in all of American history: slavery; mass violence; institutionalized racism; Black women having to deal with racism and misogyny at the same time—because oppression, like cheeseburgers, often gets served up doubled.

But here's the thing: we just can't do a course on African American Literature without all of this historical context. And although this might seem like a whole lot of extra work and frontloading, we promise it'll end up clarifying and contextualizing every novel, poem, play, essay, journalistic article, and rap song (!!) we encounter. Shmoop's honor.

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