In this class, we will study black prison narratives at a critical moment in US-American history, namely during the 1960s and 1970s. Beginning with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” we explore the prison writings of black political activists of the Long Black Freedom Movement, including Malcolm X, George Jackson, and Angela Davis. Partly black autobiographies and partly conversion narratives, these prison writings can be read as extensions of the political struggle for civil rights, black power, and against racism inside and outside of prison walls. This course further engages students with theories of and models about the prison by the French philosopher Michel Foucault, Afro-American scholar and political activist Angela Davis, or the French sociologist Loïc Wacquant in order to highlight the systemic, often implicit mechanisms of power that regulate and sustain social, political, economic, and gender inequities inside and outside of prison walls. We will conclude the course by undertaking a short foray into the genre of the prison film and discuss the two 1990s Hollywood productions The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

Please note: The first session takes place 11 April. To make up for the cancelled first class, six of the following sessions will last until 10.00 s.t. (see Stud.IP for the relevant dates). For the preparation of our first meeting on 18 April, please consult the syllabus, which is uploaded on Stud.IP. Please purchase and read/watch: Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965); George Jackson, Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson (1966-70); Angela Davis, Angela Davis: An Autobiography (1974); Frank Darabont, The Shawshank Redemption (1994); Frank Darabont, The Green Mile (1999). Students will be required to write response papers to the primary texts (500-600 words).