With a special focus on Bath and Bristol, this course examines the history of British involvement in the trade of enslaved Africans and the writing of some of the people most profoundly touched by that trade. We will consider the political and economic factors which precipitated, sustained and ultimately undermined British involvement; read stories, essays and poetry by black and white writers of the period; consider the rise of the abolition movement and its backlash, and examine the legacy of this difficult history for contemporary Britain.

Students will be offered unique insight into the lives of the men and women who experienced and challenged the transatlantic slave trade, pioneering figures who shaped the very foundations of black Atlantic literature and history.

The course includes class-time visits to the Bristol Docks and other historically relevant sites.

Professor: ASE faculty