Railroads in American Literature - Einzelansicht

As symbols of modernity and progress, trains and rails have figured as the most ”magnificent machine[s]” (Miner) in the cultural, emotional, and ideological landscapes of the American nation, capturing its ideals of growth and mobility, ingenuity and dynamism, and furthering visions of national, continental, and hemispheric unity and progress. Focusing on the intersectionality of the technologies of rails and race, the course ”Railroads in American Literature” addresses the continuous impact of the railroad on the African American community, history, and literature. Beginning with the discourses of the ”underground railroad,” the course syllabus includes narratives by African American authors as well as theoretical texts that highlight the role of the railroad in African American lives. The goals of the course are: (1) to read the discursive history of technological segregation of Black Americans and the role played by the railroad in drawing racial lines; (2) to analyze the racialization of the railroad technologies; (3) to study the poetics and politics of the African American railroad discourses, and record disruptions of the mainstream narratives; (4) to study contacts and patterns of creolization that occur across racial and technological lines; (5) to investigate African American imaginaries of the ”human” and the ”machine” as well as question forms of technological justice and progress envisioned by a ”Black ethos” (Baraka).

The course with all additional information will be available on Moodle from 28 April 2020. Further information will follow soon.