sced 407 a/b african american literature and culture overview
TRANSCRIPT
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SCED 407 A/B
African American Literature and CultureOverview
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Historical Information
• The majority of Americans of African heritage can trace their origins to western Africa (Empires: Ghana, Mali, and Songhai).
• European nations began the slave trade in the 1500s.
• Majority of enslaved Africans were sent to what is now the United States and Latin America.
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• An estimated 10 million enslaved Africans were sent to the United States during the 300 year slave trade.
• According to the 1790 census (the first one) about 59,000 free African Americans were living in the United States.
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Early Literary Milestones
• In the U.S., Briton Hammon was the first black prose writer of record with "A Narrative ... of Briton Hammon, A Negro Man" in 1760.
• The first poet was Lucy Terry with "Bars Flight" in 1746.
• Phillis Wheatley published her first poem in 1770.
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Literary Milestones
• An important body of literature in black America is very recent.
• In centuries past, however, notable contributions were made to the literature of the African American's respective culture. – Jacques Captain in Holland– Juan Latino in Spain– Alexander Pushkin in Russia– Alexandre Dumas in France.
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19th Century Milestones
– The birth of a real African-American literary tradition dates from l853 when William Wells Brown wrote "Clotel", the story of the hardships of a mulatto family.
• Charles Waddell Chestnut was the first to give series consideration to the artistic requirements of the short story and novel. His works were published as early as 1887.
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20th Century Milestones
• W. E. B. DuBois and James Weldon Johnson commanded a national audience when DuBois wrote "Souls of Black Folks", 1903, and Johnson produced his "Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man", 1912.
• Countee Cullen • Harlem Renaissance
– Langston Hughes – Arna Bontemps – Zora Neale Hurston
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Contemporary Writers
• Richard Wright• Ralph Ellison who received the National
Book Award in 1952 for Invisible Man. • James Baldwink, Go Tell It On The
Mountain. • Eldridge Cleaver, Soul on Ice• Maya Angelou's autobiographical I Know
Why the Caged Bird Sings the first nonfiction work by a black woman on the best-seller list.
• Alex Haley's, Roots, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1977.
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Language of African American Literature
• Oral Tradition
• Call/response Patterns in Literature
• Extensive Use of the Following Poetic Elements:
»Alliteration
»Repetition
»Rhyme Patterns
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Common Themes• The “Dream Deferred”• Struggle Against
Oppression• “The black islet in the midst
of the white island…(p.446).
• Harlem Renaissance
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Common Themes (cont’d)
• African American literature has been inextricably linked with the complex racial realities which have surrounded the black writer.
• With few exceptions, the major literary efforts of the African American have stemmed - directly or indirectly - from the existential facts of life for the black race in "white America".
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Electronic and Internet Resources
• Please note that all websites were retrieved during the week of October 11th, 2004
• http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/arts_lit/high_amlit.shtm
• A variety of resources for teaching African American Literature. It includes a variety of slave narratives.
• http://www.alexanderstreet2.com/BLDRLive/• Black Drama• A resource for black drama from 1850-present• http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/arts_lit/
high_music.shtm
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• A PBS site that explores African traditions and gives particular emphasis to oral tradition.
• http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/yalit.htm• Yond Adult Literature Website for Young Adult
Literature• There are special links to African American
Literature resources for teachers. (There is also one for Asian American Literature).
• http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/angelou.htm• May Angelou Teacher Resource• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is one of the
most often taught novels in 6-12th grade. This website offers tremendous resources for students.
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• http://www.ups.edu/faculty/dmacey/encyclopedia.html
• Encyclopedia of African American Literature
• Great overall resource • http://lhs.lexingtonma.org/Library/
Classlinks/History/blackhistory.html• As we already know as teachers,
literature is a reflection of time and place. This website provides historical information about African Americans.
• http://cityhonors.buffalo.k12.ny.us/city/rsrcs/eng/auth/afro.html
• Meta Search Engine for African American Authors.