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African American Literary Criticism, 1773 to 2000

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African American Literary Criticism, 1773 to 2000 African American Literary Criticism, 1773 to 2000 edited by HAZEL ARNETT ERVIN Twayne Publishers New York Contents • Preface xxiii Acknowledgments xxv Introduction 1 READINGS ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER AND PHILOSOPHICAL CONTEXTS 1773-1894: NURTURE VS. NATURE Phillis Wheatley ON IMAGINATION (1773) 23 To M^CENAS (1773) 25 Ignatius Sancho LETTER LVII (1778). IN LETTERS OF THE LATE IGNATIUS SANCHO (1782) 27 Charlotte Forten Grimke JOURNAL OF CHARLOTTE FORTEN (JULY 28, 1854) 29 Frances Ellen Watkins Harper FANCY ETCHINGS (APRIL 24, 1873) 30 Charles ~W. Chesnutt SECOND JOURNAL (MAY 29, 1880) 32 1895-1954: ART OR PROPAGANDA? Victoria Earle Matthews THE VALUE OF RACE LITERATURE: AN ADDRESS (1895) 37 W. E. B. DuBois CRITERIA OF NEGRO ART (1926) 39 VII viii • CONTENTS Langston Hughes THE NEGRO ARTIST AND THE RACIAL MOUNTAIN (1926) 44 Alain Locke ART OR PROPAGANDA? (1928) 49 Sterling A. Brown FROM "OUR LITERARY AUDIENCE" (1930) 51 NEGRO CHARACTERS AS SEEN BY WHITE AUTHORS (1933) 55 Richard Wright BLUEPRINT FOR NEGRO WRITING (1937) 82 James Baldwin FROM "EVERYBODY'S PROTEST NOVEL" (1949) 91 Ann Petry THE NOVEL AS SOCIAL CRITICISM (1950) 94 James Baldwin FROM "MANY THOUSAND GONE" (1951) 99 1955-1975: CULTURAL AUTONOMY AND UNDERSTANDING THE ART OF BLACK POETRY, DRAMA, FICTION, AND CRITICISM Ralph Ellison FROM "THE ART OF FICTION: AN INTERVIEW" (1955) 105 James Baldwin THE CREATIVE PROCESS (1962) 111 Max Roach JAZZ (1962) 113 Ossie Davis THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LORRAINE HANSBERRY (1965) 117 Larry Neal THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT (1968) 122 Carolyn F. Gerald THE BLACK WRITER AND HIS ROLE (1969) 129 Lloyd W. Brown THE EXPATRIATE CONSCIOUSNESS IN BLACK AMERICAN LITERATURE (1972) 135 Stephen E. Henderson FROM "THE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN." IN UNDERSTANDING THE NEW BLACK POETRY: BLACK SPEECH AND BLACK MUSIC AS POETIC REFERENCES (1973) 141 CONTENTS • ix 1976-2000: AESTHETIC VALUES, RECONSTRUCTIONS OF BLACKNESS AND BOUNDARIES, AND POSTMODERNISM Alice Walker SAVING THE LIFE THAT IS YOUR OWN: THE IMPORTANCE OF MODELS IN THE ARTIST'S LIFE (1976) 155 Barbara Smith TOWARD A BLACK FEMINIST CRITICISM (1977) 162 Ralph Ellison THE LITTLE MAN AT CHEHAW STATION: THE AMERICAN ARTIST AND HIS AUDIENCE (1977) 172 Sherley A. Williams THE BLUES ROOTS OF CONTEMPORARY AFRO-AMERICAN POETRY (1979) 179 Houston A. Baker Jr. FROM "TOWARD A CRITICAL PROSPECT FOR THE FUTURE." IN THE JOURNEY BACK: ISSUES IN BLACK LITERATURE AND CRITICISM (1980) 192 Toni Morrison FROM "ROOTEDNESS: THE ANCESTOR AS FOUNDATION" (1984) 198 Toni Cade Bambara SALVATION IS THE ISSUE (1984) 203 James A. Snead REPETITION AS A FIGURE OF BLACK CULTURE (1984) 206 William L. Andrews THE FIRST CENTURY OF AFRO-AMERICAN AUTOBIOGRAPHY: THEORY AND EXPLICATION (1984) 223 Joseph Henry A MELUS INTERVIEW: ISHMAEL REED (1984) 235 Shauneille Perry Ryder WILL THE REAL BLACK THEATER PLEASE STAND UP? (1984) 242 Joanne V Gabbin THE POETRY OF STERLING A. BROWN: A STUDY IN FORM AND MEANING (1985) 247 Henry Louis Gates Jr. SIGNIFYIN(G): DEFINITIONS [AND THEORY] (1988) 259 Homi K. Bhabha CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCES (1988) 268 x • CONTENTS Joy Harjo AN INTERVIEW WITH JUNE JORDAN (1988) 273 Jerry W Ward Jr. FROM "ALVIN AUBERT: THE LEVEE, THE BLUES, THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI" (1989) 278 Eleanor W Traylor A BLUES VIEW OF LIFE (LITERATURE AND THE BLUES VISION) (1989) 285 Richard J. Powell THE BLUES AESTHETIC: BLACK CULTURE AND MODERNISM (1989) 289 John Edgar Wideman PREFACE. IN BREAKING ICE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AMERICAN FICTION (1990) 303 Terry McMillan FROM "INTRODUCTION." IN BREAKING ICE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN-AMERICAN FICTION (1990) 309 Gale Jackson THE WAY WE DO: A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF THE AFRICAN ROOTS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN PERFORMANCE (1991) 312 Charles I. Nero TOWARD A BLACK GAY AESTHETIC: SIGNIFYING IN CONTEMPORARY BLACK GAY LITERATURE (1991) 321 Karla F. C. Holloway A FIGURATIVE THEORY: A CRITICAL CONSIDERATION OF VOICE, GENDER AND CULTURE (1992) 328 Tommy L. Lott A NO-THEORY THEORY OF CONTEMPORARY BLACK CINEMA (1992) 339 bell hooks INTRODUCTION: REVOLUTIONARY ATTITUDES. IN BLACK LOOKS: RACE AND REPRESENTATION (1992) 349 Jerry W Ward Jr. FOREWORD. IN BLACK SOUTHERN VOICES: AN ANTHOLOGY (1992) 353 Thulani Davis FROM "WALTER MOSLEY (AN INTERVIEW)" (1993) 359 CONTENTS • xi Sandra G. Shannon BLUES, HISTORY AND DRAMATURGY: AN INTERVIEW WITH AUGUST WILSON (1994) 364 Dolan Hubbard VOICES AND VISIONS. IN THE SERMON AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERARY IMAGINATION (1994) 382 Ropo Sekoni FEATURES OF YORUBA TRICKSTER TALE AESTHETICS (1994) 385 Geneva Smitherman FROM "WORD FROM THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY." IN BLACK TALK: WORDS AND PHRASES FROM THE HOOD TO THE AMEN CORNER (1994) 400 Madhu Dubey INTRODUCTION: BLACK FEMINIST CRITICISM. IN BLACK WOMEN NOVELISTS AND THE NATIONALIST AESTHETIC (1994) 412 Farah Jasmine Griffin INTRODUCTION. IN "WHO SET YOU FLOWIN'?" THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN MIGRATION NARRATIVE (1995) 423 Tuzyline Jita Allan INTRODUCTION: DECODING WOMANIST GRAMMAR OF DIFFERENCE. IN WOMANIST AND FEMINIST AESTHETICS, A COMPARATIVE REVIEW (1995) 433 Mtume ya Salaam THE AESTHETICS OF RAP (1995) 445 E. Ethelbert Miller AN INTERVIEW WITH CORNELIUS EADY (1995) 453 Trudier Harris MISS-TRAINED OR UNTRAINED? JACKLEG CRITICS AND AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE (OR, SOME OF MY ADVENTURES IN ACADEMIA) (1995) 461 Joan Fry AN INTERVIEW WITH OCTAVIA BUTLER (1997) 471 Duane Frank "SOUL FOOD" DIRECTOR ISN'T HOLDING HIS BREATH. IN MILWAUKEE SENTINELJOURNAL (1997) 479 Claudia Tate INTRODUCTION: RACE AND PSYCHOANALYSIS. IN PSYCHOANALYSIS AND BLACK NOVELS, DESIRE AND PROTOCOLS OF RACE (1998) 481 xii • CONTENTS Alexs Pate MAKING HOME IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM: REFLECTIONS (1999) 487 READINGS ARRANGED UNDER CRITICAL APPROACHES BLACK POETICS Ropo Sekoni FEATURES OF YORUBA TRICKSTER TALE AESTHETICS (1994) 385 Gale Jackson THE WAY WE DO: A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF THE AFRICAN ROOTS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN PERFORMANCE (1991) 312 Toni Morrison FROM "ROOTEDNESS: THE ANCESTOR AS FOUNDATION" (1984) 198 Dolan Hubbard VOICES AND VISIONS. IN THE SERMON AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERARY IMAGINATION (1994) 382 Eleanor W Traylor A BLUES VIEW OF LIFE (LITERATURE AND THE BLUES VISION) (1989) 285 Joanne V Gabbin THE POETRY OF STERLING A. BROWN: A STUDY IN FORM AND MEANING (1985) 247 Joseph Henry A MELUS INTERVIEW: ISHMAEL REED (1984) 235 Joy Harjo AN INTERVIEW WITH JUNE JORDAN (1988) 273 Sherley A. Williams THE BLUES ROOTS OF CONTEMPORARY AFRO-AMERICAN POETRY (1979) 179 Henry Louis Gates Jr. SIGNIFYIN(G): DEFINITIONS [AND THEORY] (1988) 259 Jerry W Ward Jr. FROM "ALVIN AUBERT: THE LEVEE, THE BLUES, THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI" (1989) 278 Jerry W Ward Jr. FOREWORD. IN BLACK SOUTHERN VOICES: AN ANTHOLOGY (1992) 353 CONTENTS • xiii Farah Jasmine Griffin INTRODUCTION. IN "WHO SET YOU FLOWIN'?" THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN MIGRATION NARRATIVE (1995) 423 Max Roach JAZZ (1962) 113 Houston A. Baker Jr. FROM "TOWARD A CRITICAL PROSPECT FOR THE FUTURE." IN THE JOURNEY BACK: ISSUES IN BLACK LITERATURE AND CRITICISM (1980) 192 CULTURE-BASED STUDIES Langston Hughes THE NEGRO ARTIST AND THE RACIAL MOUNTAIN (1926) 44 Richard Wright BLUEPRINT FOR NEGRO WRITING (1937) 82 Ralph Ellison THE LITTLE MAN AT CHEHAW STATION: THE AMERICAN ARTIST AND HIS AUDIENCE (1977) 172 James Baldwin FROM "EVERYBODY'S PROTEST NOVEL" (1949) 91 FROM "MANY THOUSAND GONE" (1951) 99 Larry Neal THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT (1968) 122 Stephen E. Henderson FROM "THE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN." IN UNDERSTANDING THE NEW BLACK POETRY: BLACK SPEECH AND BLACK MUSIC AS POETIC REFERENCES (1973) 141 Joseph Henry A MELUS INTERVIEW: ISHMAEL REED (1984) 235 Farah Jasmine Griffin INTRODUCTION. IN "WHO SET YOU FLOWIN'?" THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN MIGRATION NARRATIVE (1995) 423 James A. Snead REPETITION AS A FIGURE OF BLACK CULTURE (1984) 206 Richard J. Powell THE BLUES AESTHETIC: BLACK CULTURE AND MODERNISM (1989) 289 xiv • CONTENTS Houston A. Baker Jr. FROM "TOWARD A CRITICAL PROSPECT FOR THE FUTURE." IN THE JOURNEY BACK: ISSUES IN BLACK LITERATURE AND CRITICISM (1980) 192 bell hooks INTRODUCTION: REVOLUTIONARY ATTITUDES. IN BLACK LOOKS: RACE AND REPRESENTATION (1992) 349 Tommy L. Lott A NO-THEORY THEORY OF CONTEMPORARY BLACK CINEMA (1992) 339 Homi K. Bhabha CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCES (1988) 268 Max Roach JAZZ(1962) 113 Mtume ya Salaam THE AESTHETICS OF RAP (1995) 445 Duane Frank "SOUL FOOD" DIRECTOR ISN'T HOLDING HIS BREATH. IN MILWAUKEE SENTINELJOURNAL (1997) 479 Lloyd W Brown THE EXPATRIATE CONSCIOUSNESS IN BLACK AMERICAN LITERATURE (1972) 135 INTERTEXTUAL HISTORIOGRAPHY Karla F. C. Holloway A FIGURATIVE THEORY: A CRITICAL CONSIDERATION OF VOICE, GENDER AND CULTURE (1992) 328 James A. Snead REPETITION AS A FIGURE OF BLACK CULTURE (1984) 206 Geneva Smitherman FROM "WORD FROM THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY." IN BLACK TALK: WORDS AND PHRASES FROM THE HOOD TO THE AMEN CORNER (1994) 400 Joseph Henry A MELUS INTERVIEW: ISHMAEL REED (1984) 235 William L. Andrews THE FIRST CENTURY OF AFRO-AMERICAN AUTOBIOGRAPHY: THEORY AND EXPLICATION (1984) 223 CONTENTS • xv Madhu Dubey INTRODUCTION: BLACK FEMINIST CRITICISM. IN BLACK WOMEN NOVELISTS AND THE NATIONALIST AESTHETIC (1994) 412 GENDER-BASED STUDIES Barbara Smith TOWARD A BLACK FEMINIST CRITICISM (1977) 162 Tuzyline Jita Allan INTRODUCTION: DECODING WOMANIST GRAMMAR OF DIFFERENCE. IN WOMANIST AND FEMINIST AESTHETICS, A COMPARATIVE REVIEW (1995) 433 Toni Cade Bambara SALVATION IS THE ISSUE (1984) 203 Karla F. C. Holloway A FIGURATIVE THEORY: A CRITICAL CONSIDERATION OF VOICE, GENDER AND CULTURE (1992) 328 Madhu Dubey INTRODUCTION: BLACK FEMINIST
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