Behind Bars: American
Prison Literature
R12
S05 H81
Sept. 1:
9-10:30, 12:30-2:00, 2:30-4:00, 4:30-6
Sept. 2:
9-10:30, 12:30-2:00, 2:30-4:00, 4:30-6
Sept. 3:
9-10:30, 12:30-2:00, 2:30-4:00, 4:30-6
Sept. 5:
9-10:30, 12:30-2:00
The
vastness of American prison literature testifies to many ills in American
society. Among these are the Puritan need for old-testament punitive
retribution, including the notion that solitary confinement would bring about
penitence (yes, that’s where the term “penitentiary” originated.) Race and
racism in the penal system, the “war on drugs” the privatization of prisons,
the irony that the “land of the free” has the largest prison population in
the world, and the highest per-capita incarceration rate are among the issues
we will explore.
Students
should purchase the following:
Caryl
Chessman, Cell 2455, Death Row: A Condemned Man's Own Story (1948,
rpt. 2006)
Jack
Henry Abbott, In the Belly of the Beast: Letters from Prison (1991)
Fauziya
Kassindja, Do They Hear You When You Cry (1998)
James
Forman Jr., Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America
(2017)
Ashley
C. Ford, Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir (2021)
The
following are useful supplementary materials:
https://www.criminaljusticedegreehub.com/literary-works-penned-in-prison/
https://nicic.gov/history-corrections-america
https://www.statista.com/topics/1717/prisoners-in-the-united-states/
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/10/an-artist-on-how-he-survived-the-chain-gang
Sam Cooke, “Chain Gang” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRyDlVOE86U
https://www.vera.org/blog/dispatches-from-germany/what-german-prisons-do-differently
Thursday, 1 September
9:00-10:30: Introduction to the class, prison writing,
American prisons and prison writing. Begin Caryl Chessman.
12:30-2:00: Caryl Chessman, Jack Henry Abbott:
Introduction, student talks.
2:30-4:00: Discussion, writing, talks on Chessman and Abbott.
4:30-6:00: Discussion, writing, talks on Chessman and
Abbott.
Friday, 2 September:
9-10:30 Finishing Jack Abbott, beginning Fauziya
Kassindja. Immigration and American law; gender-based violence, essential
similarities and differences between these two writers
12:30-2:00 Discussion, writing, talks on Abbott and
Kassindja.
2:30-4:00 Discussion, writing, talks on Abbott and
Kassindja.
4:30-6:00 Discussion, writing, talks on Abbott and
Kassindja.
Saturday, 3 September
9:00-10:30 Introduction to Forman’s writing; theories
about race and racism in the American criminal justice system. If time, look at
Michelle Alexander’s writing (The New Jim Crow) or a summary of it.
12:30-2:00 American law, Jim Crow, Forman in context.
2:30-4:00 Discussion, writing, talks on Forman.
4:30-6:00 Discussion, writing, talks on Forman.
Monday September 5
9:00-10:30 Introduction to the effects of prison on
families and on woman.
12:30-2:00 Discussion, writing, talks on Ford .