Black autobiography
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Writing Black Lives: The Theory and Literary History of African American Autobiography
AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES 545
This course is an intensive overview of Black autobiographical writing. We begin with the premise that the autobiography has been one of the earliest forms--and the major foundation--of the Black American literary tradition. We will begin with selective slave narratives and then proceed to variety of autobiographies--some by literary people, some by celebrities, some by politicians, some by people of opposing political orientations. We will also read some of the significant critical studies that have been written about Black autobiography and autobiography in general. The aim of the course is simple: To Understand the aesthetic nature, political purpose, and cultural history of Black American autobiography and its relationship to and departure from the larger tradition of autobiographical writing in the United States. We will also devote a portion of the course to looking at one major Black biographer who wrote about Black subjects: Shirley Graham Du Bois, who wrote books on Black heroic figures for young readers.Course Attributes:
Section 01
Writing Black Lives: The Theory and Literary History of African American AutobiographyINSTRUCTOR
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CONTENDING DISCOURSES OF Jet AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Honorableness, AUTHENTICITY, Point of view MASCULINITY
Summary
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Great Black Autobiographies You Must Add to Your Reading List [UPDATED]
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Behind every great person, there’s usually an inspiring life story. And if we’re lucky, they’ll share it with us in the form of an autobiography. From entertainment to politics, some of history’s most influential Black Americans have put pen to paper to tell their story. And from the highest highs to the lowest lows, we can help but root for them along the way. If you’re looking for a little inspiration this Black History Month, these autobiographies are essential reading.
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Before he was an award-winning comedian and talk show host who rubs elbows with the hottest acts in music, he was the son of a Black mother and a white father who hid him away to save his life. “Born a Crime” is Noah’s hilarious but poignant account of his journey from apartheid in South Africa to The Daily Show.
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“Negroland” is Margo Jefferson’s bestselling account of her life growing up in a unique world of upper middle class Blacks in Chicago during the 1950s and 60s. She writes brilliantly about the how her elite social circle navigated the conflict between their status and the overall well being of people of colo