Course Description
An exploration of the comparative dimensions of Black and Irish experiences in the Atlantic world through the study of cultural production from the United States, Africa, Britain, the Caribbean, and Ireland. Special emphasis will be placed on the relevance of the texts under discussion to contemporary society around the world.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate student members of the class will:
1. Write a 15 – 20-page research paper of publishable quality.
2. Give two presentations during the semester, with the aim of
improving their teaching and general communicative skills.
3. Lead small in-class discussion groups throughout the
semester.
4. Meet separately as a group with the instruction 2 - 4 times
per semester to discuss extra assigned reading and address
pedagogical issues.
Athena Title
The Black and Green Atlantic
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
We will examine work by established and emerging scholars in tandem with a broad range of texts––works of fiction, autobiography, music, poetry, and cinema, etc. Several movies and documentaries will be shown in class. Special emphasis will be placed on the relevance of these texts to contemporary society around the world. Our methodological approach will be interdisciplinary, transnational, and transcultural in scope. In addition to intensive reading, students will give one 10-15 minute presentation, a short essay based on the presentation (4-6 pages), and a final essay (8-10 pages). There will be 5 quizzes in the semester. The course goals include the following: first, students will draw comparisons between the Black and Green Atlantics that go beyond the usual “influence” model, with the ultimate aim of reaching a better understanding of racialization processes in the transnational context. Second, in the process of active participation in class discussions, students will learn to hone their critical thinking skills, and third, students will learn to apply those skills through effective academic writing.
Topical Outline
Suggested Topics Week by Week: Week One The Black and Green Atlantic I. Tues: The Black and Green Atlantic: An Introduction. Thurs: Paul Gilroy’s The Black Atlantic READINGS Gilroy Chapters 1 & 2 Week Two The Black and Green Atlantic II. Tues.: The Black and Green Atlantic READINGS: Gilroy Chapters 3 & 4; David Lloyd. Thurs.: The Black Atlantic Cont. READINGS Gilroy Chapters 5 & 6 In-class quiz. Week Three Irish Frederick Douglass Tues.: Documentary Film: Frederick Douglass and the White Negro. Followed by discussion. READINGS: Selections from Douglass, My Bondage, My Freedom. Thurs.: Douglass in Ireland READINGS: Jenkins;* MacSweeney.** Week Four Ventriloquizing Blackness: Eugene O’Neill and Irish American Racial Performance. Tues.: Movie: The Emperor Jones. Followed by discussion. READINGS: Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones Thurs.: Eugene O’Neill and The Emperor Jones READINGS: Robinson.* Week Five Under the Imperial Gaze: Ireland and Jamaica Tues: Froude, Carlyle and Mill on Ireland and the Caribbean READINGS: Selections from James Anthony Froude’s The English in the West Indies,** Thomas Carlyle, “The Negro Question,”** and J.S. Mill, “England and Ireland.”** Thurs.: Froude etc. cont. READINGS: Malouf, Ch 1. Week Six Revolutionaries, Renegades, and Redlegs Tues.: In-class documentary film The Redlegs (The Afro-Irish of Barbados.) Plus a film on Montserrat’s “Black Irish.” Thurs: In-class documentary film PBS’s Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind followed by lecture/discussion: The Irish Marcus Garvey READINGS: Garvey, Selected Writings**; Malouf Ch. 2 Week Seven Green Claude McKay Tues: Banjo. PLUS Short movie clips on McKay’s poetry. READINGS: Claude McKay Banjo. Selected poetry. Thurs.: The Irish Claude McKay READINGS: McKay “How Black sees Green;”** Malouf Ch. 3. Week Eight Black Samuel Beckett Tues.; Film: Waiting for Godot. Followed by discussion. READINGS: Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Thurs.: Beckett and the Black Atlantic READINGS: Naito* Week Nine Irish Nationalism––Caribbean Poetics: Tues. May 24th & Thurs. May 26th: Poetry in the Black and Green READINGS: Poetry: Selections from the following poets: W. B. Yeats, Derek Walcott, Michael Collins, Marlene Nourbese Philips, Eavan Boland. Criticism: Malouf, “Epilogue;” Malouf, “Transatlantic Fugue;” Letmann. Week Ten Ireland to Africa Achebe, Things Fall Apart Yeats, “The Second Coming” and other poems. Week Eleven Africa to Ireland Thiong’o, Decolonising the Mind. Friel. Translations Week Twelve Celtic Caribbean McCafferty, Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl Malouf Ch. 4. Week Thirteen Sounds Black and Green Music from Black 47; Afro-Celt Sound System. Irish Reggae Band and more READINGS: Quigley.* Week Fourteen Black and Green on the Screen. Film. Students will choose music/ films of the Black and Green Atlantic. READINGS: Malouf, Ch. 5. Week Fifteen TBA. Week Sixteen TBA All readings marked with an asterisk (*) are in O’Neill and Lloyd’s The Black and Green Atlantic. Those marked ** are available on the course book.
Syllabus