English 353 - The Middle Passage in Contemporary Black Literature and Culture
Danielle Elliott
T 3:00-4:50

Poet Robert Hayden described the Middle Passage of the slave trade as a "voyage through death" that transported Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas.  This course explores the legacy of the Middle Passage in contemporary literature and culture--1969-today--looking at how the past is made present.  Through poetry, novels, short stories, film, and visual art on the Middle Passage, we will consider how this historical phenomenon works as motif in black culture and site of trauma for black artists.  We will examine the ways different genres achieve particular nuances in their expressions of this voyage