ENGL 243 - Twentieth Century Black Writers Against the Surveillance State

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

(Same as AFRS 243) As Black writers in the U.S. formed part of various artistic, political, and literary movements throughout the 20th century, law enforcement agencies employed various surveillance tactics to stave off perceived threats posed by dissent literature. For example, ever since the early 20th century F.B.I. ‘ghost readers’ began to monitor the literary work of Black authors for signs of sedition or treason. This course investigates how such intrusions into privacy influenced the creation and public reception of Black literature. Because the right to privacy is based on notions of self-possession, which we often take for granted today, the course examines how access to privacy is often delimited based on race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, and national origin.

This course fulfills the REGS requirement for the English major.

Michael Reyes Salas.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS