ENGL214

Domestic Pluralism (DP), Writing-Intensive

In his powerful and moving novels and essays, James Baldwin confronted the lies America told itself about race, exposing the roots of social and political and cultural systems that superficially boasted of improving race relations but that instead continued to marginalize Black and brown bodies. This course offers a close reading of Baldwin's fiction and his essays, probing the ways that he provides a critique of the politics of race, sexuality, and nation in his own time and in ours. The course also includes readings and discussions of critical analyses of Baldwin's writings. No prerequisites.