This course will focus on intensive readings in major American novels that tackle the question of race and racial difference. Readings will begin in the early twentieth century with Henry James and Charles Chesnutt, move through the interwar period with Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston, and conclude with the post-war period with Toni Morrison, Louise Erdrich, and others. The class will include some critical material from major theorists of literature and race, such as Henry Louis Gates. (B, H)