Transfers ToNot transferableDescriptionThis course explores major themes/literary issues in the development of African American literature during the periods of slavery, reconstruction, and the Harlem Renaissance, as well as contemporary writing. Among the literary forms covered in this course are the oral tradition, poetry, slave narratives, short stories, and novels. While linking them to political, cultural, and social issues from their historical period, the course examines issues such as: African oral traditions; blues, jazz, and the relationship between music and African American writing; the performance of literary text on the abolitionist stage; racial categorization and mixed-race identity; the literature of slavery; and the influences of African American writing on American literature. 