Primarily informing this course are the ideas surrounding genre theory. Since this course is dedicated to the understanding of a very specific genre, it is necessary to also expose students to other genres as well. Through the use of film, music, and other medias, students will become knowledgeable in more than written text (including their own).
In addition, since it almost necessary to explore the Gothic
beside traditional theories, such as psychoanalysis, students will engage in
traditional theoretical texts by Sigmund Freud, the anointed father of
psychoanalysis. Concepts such as the double, mirroring, and the uncanny are
almost always used in Gothic texts, and African American Gothic is no
exception. These concepts developed by psychoanalytic theorists will provide students with a theoretical explanation to understanding key elements of African American Gothic (such as the subjugated Other, the double, the mirror image, the uncanny, inferiority complexes, Black identity, etc.).
In addition, critical race studies and aspects of
post-colonialism will be read and written about by students. With the overall
course goals in mind, students will need to come to an understanding of what
African American Gothic is, and as such, must also understand not only what the
Gothic is (with the help of psychoanalysis), but what African American
literature is as well. Primarily, students will read theories by Toni Morrison and W.E.B. Du Bois. Toni Morrison's Playing With the Dark will be used as a prominent theory for the understanding of the translation of Gothic elements for the Black Gothic authors. For example, Morrison's literary theory of Africanism will help students contextualize the role of African Americans before the time period of the texts to be read and discussed, as well as during and after the time periods of said texts. Furthermore, Du Bois' The Souls of Black Folk presents several key concepts necessary for the fostering of knowledge and intellectual stimulation in regards to understanding the course topic. In particular, the idea of double consciousness, which closely resembles (though significantly predates) Morrison, states the Black consciousness which is "always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity" (45). Reading these theorists alongside Freud and the primary texts doesn't constitute a cherry-picking of primary texts, but more, perhaps, a cherry-picking of theory, as the course seemingly calls so desperately for.
