Abolitionist Poetry
Course Description
Summary
How did American poets contribute to the fight for the abolition of slavery in the 19th Century? And how have contemporary poets carried forward that legacy? This 2-credit, 7-week course will focus primarily on poetry of the mid-1800s published in abolitionist newspapers like The Liberator, including works by William Lloyd Garrison, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, George Moses Hornton, and others. From there, we will read 20th and 21st Century poetry that imagines the end of carceral systems, from prisons and police to ICE detention and facial recognition software. Alongside works of literature, we will engage with political theory and discuss what it means to move beyond reformist frameworks toward an abolitionist horizon. Students will write weekly responses and submit a final paper.
Learning Outcomes
- Become familiar with landmarks in the history of abolitionist literature, with a focus on 19th Century American poetry
- Make connections between political movements and literatures of various time periods and contexts
- Become sharper readers of literature by close reading poems, analyzing their formal mechanics, and crafting nuanced interpretations
Cross List
- Advancement of Public Action
- Black Studies
- Politics