LIT 148B: Harlem Renaissance

University of California, Santa Cruz

Introduces the literature, culture, and afterlives of the Harlem Renaissance, proceeding through major works of poetry, fiction, photography, social documentary, and criticism. Students read successors such as Richard Wright alongside international writers, including Aimé and Suzanne Césaire, considering how Harlem-era debates about race, art, and politics resonate across time and space. Particular attention is given to literary form and the history of Black political movements, the uses of dialect and folklore, the politics of racial representation, Harlem as cultural capital, and the relationship of the Harlem Renaissance to emergent Black internationalist political and literary movements. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Research. (Formerly The Harlem Renaissance.)