Texts: Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Anchor Books.
Conrad, Joseph. The Heart of Darkness. Signet
Douglas, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave. Penguin.
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Signet.
Harris, Joel Chandler. Tales of Uncle Remus: Adventures of Briar Rabbit. Puffin.
Description: Our readings for this session will focus upon the nature of native African culture and the exploitation of native Africans during the nineteenth century by certain Europeans and Americans. The Heart of Darkness presents the experiences of Marlow, a steamship captain, as he travels up the Congo into the heart of Africa in pursuit of Kurtz, a mysterious European idealist, and his subsequent disillusionment both with European colonialism and with human nature itself.
Things Fall Apart, written by a native Nigerian, gives a full documentation of the culture and traditions of the Ibo people and the impact upon them of colonialism and early missionary activity. Frederick Douglas and Harriet Jacobs both give grim accounts of their experiences of growing up in American slavery and of their subsequent escapes. Both became strong voices in the Abolitionist movement. We will end the session with a quick look at the amusing Tales of Uncle Remus, noting how they subtly suggest some attitudes of the blacks toward the whites in the South.
Readings:
September 7: Introduction
14: The Heart of Darkness, Section I
28: The Heart of Darkness, Section II
October 5: Things Fall Apart, Chapters 1 - 6
12: Chapters 7 - 11
19: Chapters 12 - 18
26: Chapters 19 - end.
November 2: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, Chapters 1 - 5
9: Chapters 6 to p. 74
16: P. 74 to end
23: No Session
30: Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl, first half
December 7: Finish Incidents
14: Select tales of Briar Rabbit
