AFRS 276 - How to Write a Black Memoir

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

(Same as AMST 276 and ENGL 276) Though our culture has become increasingly comfortable with self exposure, it does not completely explain why people so frequently resort to the genre of memoir to publicize the self. What might be required of the writer—in terms of aesthetics, historical memory, the publishing industry, and the market—might also be mysterious to many. This intensive seeks to peak behind the curtain of memoir making, with an eye toward having students produce a substantial, but hardly oversized (20 pages), draft of a memoir of their own. We meet with real live memoirists, and having read their works, question them mercilessly about how they brought their stories into being. Among the inquiries that will drive our enterprise is what makes a memoir black. Another is what difference does this (racial) difference make for memoir-writing. Tyrone Simpson.

Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor and 200-level courses in English/ Africana Studies/American Studies.

One 3-hour period.

Course Format: INT