African American Literature History and Current Trends

African American Literature The first writings by blacks in America was autobiographical and became known as the Slave Narrative Three themes developed in early African American writings around the issue of slavery: accommodation, protest, and escape

African American Literature Olaudah Equiano (Gustavus Vassa) (c. 1745-c. 1797) Eqiano was the first black in America to write an autobiography. In The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African (1789) Equiano gives an account of his native land (he was an Ibo from Niger) and the horrors of his captivity and enslavement in the West Indies.

African American Literature Jupiter Hammon (c. 1720-c. 1800) Poet Jupiter Hammon, a slave on Long Island, New York, is remembered for his religious poems as well as for An Address to the Negroes of the State of New York (1787), in which he advocated freeing children of slaves instead of condemning them to hereditary slavery. His poem "An Evening Thought" was the first poem published by a black male in America.

African American Literature Lucy Terry (1730-1821) Thought to be the author of the oldest piece of African-American literature, “Bars Fight” a poem written in 1746, about an Indian raid on settlers in Massachusetts. It was not published until 1855.

African American Literature Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) Her slave narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) is the most comprehensive biography of an African American woman prior to the Civil War. In it she recounts her life in slavery in the context of family relationships reshaping the slave narrative genre to include women’s experiences.

African American Literature Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) The first African-American and the second woman to publish a book in the colonies, she is one of the best known early black poets; her work was praised by leaders of the American Revolution, including George Washington. She is one of the first writers to use an epistolary style (in the form of letters).

African American Literature Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) Orator, journalist, abolitionist, statesman, autobiographer and author of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (1845), the most influential African American text of his era. His writing and life created a model of self-hood of such moral and political authority, he was later viewed as a cultural hero.

African American Literature Post-slavery Era W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) One of the founders of the NAACP, DuBois published the highly influential The Souls of Black Folk (1903) which created a black intellectual and artistic consciousness. He was an essayist, novelist, academic and the preeminent African American scholar-intellectual of his time.

African American Literature Post-slavery Era Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) autobiographer, essayist, educator James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) poet, essayist, editor, educator Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) poet

African American Literature The Harlem Renaissance The artistic and socio-cultural awakening of African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s It was centered around the vibrant African American community in Harlem, New York, but had far-reaching influence in art, music, literature and social thought. The interplay of art and race, and the aesthetic criteria for evaluating black writing are some of the intellectual legacies of the Harlem Renaissance.

African American Literature The Harlem Renaissance Langston Hughes (1902-1967) Poet, playwright, essayist, autobiographer, and children’s book author, Hughes came to attention in 1922 in the anthology The Book of American Negro Poetry. His most famous poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” was written in his teens.

African American Literature The Harlem Renaissance Zora Neal Hurston (1891-1960) Novelist, anthropologist, folklorist, Hurston left New York to return to hometown in Florida in 1927. She began collecting folktales, work songs, spirituals and sermons to document the black experience. In 1935 she published Mules and Men, the first volume of black American folklore. Her finest novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) portrays the life and journey of a strong female character set in the rural South.

African American Literature The Harlem Renaissance Alain Locke (1886-1954) essayist, editor Claude McKay (1889-1948) poet Jean Toomer (1894-1967) poet Anne Spencer (1882-1975) poet

African American Literature Realism, Modernism, Naturalism The 1940s -1960s was an era of social change for African Americans. Influences included the Second World War, the Second Great Migration, world-wide social movements such as communism and Marxism, and early civil rights legislation which opened up schools and jobs for many African Americans. Urban realism – urban sensibility defines much of the literature of this era.

African American Literature Realism, Modernism, Naturalism Richard Wright (1908-1960) novelist, autobiographer, political commentator. His influential and critically acclaimed novel Native Son (1940) tells the story of a black man struggling for acceptance in Chicago. It garnered him financial success, international fame and his outspoken writing style influenced a generation of black writers.

African American Literature Realism, Modernism, Naturalism Ralph Ellison (1914-1994) novelist, essayist, scholar, artist, Ellison’s important novel Invisible Man (1952) is the story of a nameless black man who learns to assert himself. The Invisible Man is part of the cannon of 20th Century American literature, though Ellison’s only major published work.

African American Literature Realism, Modernism, Naturalism Margaret Walker (1915-1998) poet, novelist, educator (“For My People”; Jubilee) Gwendolyn Brooks (1917- 2000) poet, novelist, children’s writer. Her second book of poetry, Annie Allen won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950. James Baldwin (1924-1987) novelist, essayist, playwright, filmmaker, lecturer. The story of his painful childhood is the subject of his first novel, Go Tell It On the Mountain Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) her award-winning play, A Raison in the Sun is a classic of the American theater.

African American Literature The Black Arts Movement Social and political forces in the black community in the 1960s and 1970s sought to change the way African Americans were defined and treated. The Black Arts Movement sought to change how blacks were represented and portrayed in literature and the arts. The Black Arts Movement was anchored in political change and the concept that the artist is a part of his or her community and their work should speak to the needs and aspirations of that community.

African American Literature The Black Arts Movement Malcolm X (1925-1965) orator and autobiographer. His Autobiography, published after his death, is a major African American literary work of the 20th Century. It was co-written with author Alex Haley. Amiri Baraka (1934- ) poet, playwright, activist and lecturer Baraka influenced later poets to write from the contemporary African American experience. Sonia Sanchez (1934- ), poet, essayist, playwright and educator, her writing reflects her personal growth to her commitment to make a more just world Nikki Giovanni (1943- ) poet, essayist, lecturer – this prolific poet, sometimes referred to as the people’s poet for her down-to-earth style has written much about female identity and autonomy.

African American Literature The 1970s to the Present African American literature began to enter the mainstream of publishing and be read by black and white audiences. African American literature began to be defined and analyzed. Black women began to achieve success as novelists, poets, writers and artists.

African American Literature The 1970s to the Present Toni Morrison (1931- ) editor, novelist, academic, Morrison wrote richly woven stories often with strong female characters. The Bluest Eye (1970), Sula (1973), Song of Solomon (1977), Tar Baby (1981) are some of her great novels. Beloved (1988) won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1988. She is the first African American women to win the Nobel Prize for Literature ( ).

African American Literature The 1970s to the Present Alice Walker (1944- ) novelist and poet, Walker’s best known work, The Color Purple (1982) won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982. It’s the story of two sisters who through separation and trials continue to support and strengthen each other. Maya Angelou (1928- ) poet, playwright, performer and autobiographer. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) her serial autobiography is in the pantheon of modern American literature.

African American Literature The 1970s to the Present Alex Haley (1921-1992) journalist and novelist who’s Roots (1976) about his family history traced back to West Africa became a television event in 1977 and sparked a popular interest and pride in African American history and ancestry. He also co-wrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

African American Literature The 1970s to the Present Toni Cade Bambara (1939-1995) novelist, essayist, filmmaker, her short story collections, Gorilla, My Love (1972) and her novel, The Salt Eaters (1980) demonstrate her commitment to social issues. Ishmael Reed (1938- ) essayist, poet, novelist, and publisher, Reed’s cultural activism has made his published work hard to define. Mumbo Jumbo (1972) is considered his masterpiece.

African American Literature The 1970s to the Present August Wilson (1945-2006) playwright and poet best known for his cycle of 10 plays about black life in America in the 20th Century. He won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for Fences (1987) and Rita Dove (1952- ) poet, novelist, educator, Dove won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1987 for Thomas and Beulah (1986). She was Poet Laureate of the United States from 1992-1994.

African American Literature The Contemporary Scene African American writers have entered the mainstream of American readership and publish in many genres: romance, mystery, science fiction and literary fiction. While issues of identity and race are still prominent, the range of human issues are also topics of contemporary African American literature.

African American Literature The Contemporary Scene Edward P. Jones (1951 ) won the Pulitzer Prize in 2004 for The Known World (2004) about a black slaveholder in the antebellum South. Stephen L. Carter (1954- ), essayist, legal scholar, novelist. The Emperor of Ocean Park and New England White look at the black middle class. Walter Mosley (1952- ), popular novelist known for crime fiction such as Devil in a Blue Dress (1990). Terry McMillan (1951- ) professor, author, editor McMillan’s work, such as Waiting to Exhale (1992) and How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1995) often center around contemporary black family life and loves.

African American Literature The Contemporary Scene Edwidge Danticat (1969- ) author, educator. Her Breath, Eyes, Memory (1994) was brought to national attention as an “Oprah book.” Brother, I’m Dying (2007) won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2008. ZZ Packer (1973- ) lecturer, short story writer. Her short story collection Drinking Coffee Elsewhere (2003) received wide acclaim. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (1977- ) Nigerian-born writer who’s novel about the Biafran war, Half a Yellow Sun (2006) has placed her firmly on the American and international literary scene.

Here are some great web sites for further research: http://www

The American Memory Project: Library of Congress: http://memory. loc

Slave Narrative Projects from the Library of Congress: http://memory

North American Slave Narratives from the Documenting the American South Project at the University of North Carolina: http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/texts.html

Digital Library on American Slavery, U North Carolina at Greensboro: http://library.uncg.edu/slavery/index.aspx?s=3

Ex Slave Narratives (Library of Congress Digitizes Slave Narratives): http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awafc11/ex-slave.html

Faces and Voices (Library of Congress): http://memory. loc

Other resources from the Library of Congress: http://memory. loc

American Slave Narratives from the University of Virginia’s Crossroads Project: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/wpahome.html

Slave Narratives with links to Full Text. http://afroamhistory. about

The Slave Narrative Project from Washington State University: http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/slave.htm

American Treasures from the Library of Congress: http://www. loc

African American Texts at University of Virginia E-Text Project: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/subjects/subjects-afam.html

Can also look for full text of many books through this site: http://demo.openlibrary.org

More information on American Authors may be found at: http://www. lang

And, this site on American Literature: http://guweb2. gonzaga

And, finally full text literatures collections, courtesy of the Rutgers University Libraries: http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/rr_gateway/research_guides/eng_lit/eng_full-text_lit.shtml