FREN 444 - Inheriting the Black Atlantic: Slavery, Memory, and the Work of Mourning

FC ARHU CD WINT

4 credits
As statues of slave traders and colonial figures fall across France and its former colonies, a long-suppressed past demands reckoning. This course examines how slavery shapes the modern Francophone world, focusing on France and the French Caribbean. From the 17th century to contemporary Black Lives Matter-inspired protests, we ask: How do we inherit and confront the traumatic legacy of slavery? How can societies mourn and heal? Through archives, literature, film, and writings by Fanon, Glissant, Césaire, Condé, Derrida, and Freud, students explore memory, mourning, and artistic responses to historical trauma. Taught in French.

Prerequisites: two 300-level courses in FREN (beyond FREN 301).