32213

SoSe 18: Amiri Baraka

Sean Bonney

Comments

Amiri Baraka is widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in African-American literature in the second half of the Twentieth Century, with work encompassing poetry, drama, music criticism and political theory. His work has been a key influence on most African-American artworks that have emerged in recent years, from performance poetry through to hiphop to dance and film. The course will engage with the full scope of his work, using the work of this singular figure as a lens through which to view the development of African-American artistic radicalism from the Civil Rights period, through the militancy of Malcolm X and the Black Liberation Movement and on into contemporary struggles associated with the Black Lives Matter movement and the rise of the far right in the contemporary political landscape of the United States. In particular, we will discuss through close readings of Baraka's work the political significance of the artwork, and how poetics and musical forms offer means of political engagement that are not possible through more conventional methods of political intervention. It must be pointed out that Amiri Baraka's work remains highly controversial, and there is much in his work that we will find to be uncomfortable and even offensive. We will not shy away from these aspects of his work (aspects that Baraka himself was highly critical of in later years). Because of this, students who are considering taking the course but are worried they may be triggered in some way are more than welcome to make an appointment with me to discuss these aspects of the work before the course begins. Having said that, this promises to be a unique course, and an opportunity to engage deeply with the work of this singular and vastly influential writer. close