The Black Presence in British Literature Before 1900
This course is designed to offer an overview of the “Black presence” in British writing before 1900. We will start by looking at such canonical texts such as W. Shakespeare’s Othello and A. Behn’s Oroonoko in which Black characters play a major role for the first time. How is Blackness conceptualised in these texts? We will historically situate these narratives and the conceptualisations of “race” in the period. We will then analyse the first expressions of Black British authorship by looking at Olaudah Equiano’s Interesting Narrative and Mary Seacole’s Wonderful Adventures. How do these subjects express both Blackness and Britishness in their writing? What gendered conceptions can be found in these texts? In addition to the literary texts, theoretical material from Black British Cultural Studies and Postcolonial Studies by David Dabydeen, Paul Gilroy and others will be discussed.
It is strongly recommended to read at least some of the texts before the new semester starts. Additional materials will be provided on Moodle.
Recommended reading:
Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko. 1688. Ed. Janet M. Todd. London: Penguin, 2003.
Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative and Other Wirtings. 1789. Ed. Vincent Carretta. London: Penguin, 2003.
Seacole, Mary. Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands. 1857. Ed. Sara Salih. London: Penguin, 2005.
Shakespeare, William. Othello, the Moor of Venice. 1603. The Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Michael Neill. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. |
