LIT 499-04 Black British Literature
Professor: Mindi McMann
Class meetings: M 5:30-8:20pm
The term “Black British” signifies the fastest growing demographic in Britain, and one that has redefined the national image. In looking at the creative output of British people of African, Caribbean, and Southeast Asian descent, this course will call into question the “Britishness” and the “Blackness” of contemporary British culture. We will be asking how this body of literature, music, and film is a particularly British product, trying to find its position within the larger – and predominately white – British canon. We will be reading works by Sam Selvon, Zadie Smith, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Buchi Emecheta, and Bernadine Evaristo among others.