AP/HUMA 4304 6.00
Meeting Points: Black Diasporas in Toronto and London
Borrowing its title from Austin Clarke’s famous novel, this course examines Toronto, Canada and London, UK as important “meeting points” for various Black diasporic communities since the mid-20th century. It considers how cross-cultural movements and exchanges are represented in various creative works, such as novels, short stories, poetry, memoir, film, and multimedia art. Guest speakers including Black Canadian authors will be invited depending on availability in a given year.
Creative texts are examined alongside critical and historical material that theorizes Black diasporic migrations and (un)settlements to and within these spaces from various regions in the Americas and continental Africa. By examining creative texts that represent various waves of migration to Toronto and London over the last 70 years, the course also facilitates discussion about the various state responses in Canada and the UK to these arrivals. More importantly, however, we consider the ways in which Black diasporic artists, writers and filmmakers critique, interrogate and challenge dominant discourses of citizenship, nationhood and multiculturalism as they play out in these two nations. While the course examines the challenges faced by black communities in Toronto and London, it also looks at creative works which articulate the potential of these urban spaces to express different forms of outer-national citizenship or belonging.