Black Grammars
ENGL 347
Fall 2026
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
AFAM 347 |
In her text In the Wake: On Blackness and Being, Christina Sharpe argues that Blackness, due its rearrangement of and resistance to hegemonic modes of meaning making, is "anagrammatical." As a concept, anagrammatical Blackness points to "the failure of words and concepts to hold in and on Black flesh." Taking this provocation as a point of departure, this course will consider the relationship between Blackness and the grammatical, with a particular focus on rhetoric and poetics. Each week will focus on a particular rhetorical figure or grammatical concept: subject, metaphor, metonymy, apostrophe, tense, irony, catachresis, parataxis, etc., considering how Blackness shifts our understandings of their operations. Readings will include Ronald Judy, Barbara Johnson, Jacques Derrida, Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, Fred Moten, and Paul de Man, among others. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (African American Studies Minor)(African American Studies)(English)(Social, Cultural and Critical Theory Certificate) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Potential readings include:
Rebecka Rutledge Fisher, HABITATIONS OF THE VEIL
Cord Whitaker, BLACK METAPHORS
Paul Ricoeur, THE RULE OF METAPHOR
Paul de Man, BLINDNESS AND INSIGHT
Roland Barthes, MYTHOLOGIES
Rizvana Bradley, ANTEAESTHETICS
David Marriott, OF EFFACEMENT
Anahid Neressian, THE CALAMITY FORM
Jacques Derrida, "WHITE MYTHOLOGIES: METAPHOR IN THE TEXT OF PHILOSOPHY"
Barbara Johnson "APOSTROPHE, ANIMATION, ABORTION"
Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, "THEORIZING IN A VOID""
Lee Edelman, "CE N'EST PAS ÇA: BLACKNESS, SEX, AND THE SET OF ILLEGIBLES"
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Examinations and Assignments:
Two essays, notes submissions, and a presentation. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course contributes to the fulfillment of ENGL major requirements:
Literary History 3; Theory, elective |
| Instructor(s): Palmer,Tyrone S. Times: .M.W... 02:50PM-04:10PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 4 | JR major: 4 | | |
| Seats Available: 15 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 1 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 4 | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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