1. An Intro to African American Literature

2. African Diaspora
Refers to the communities throughout the world that have resulted by descent from the movement in historic times of peoples from Africa, predominantly to the Americas and among other areas around the globe.

3. 1. Characteristics and Themes
That typify the African American literature movement

4. The consequence of the single story is this: it robs people of dignity
The consequence of the single story is this: it robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes that we are different rather than how we are similar. - Chimamanda Adichie

5. Characteristics of African American Literature
Pre-dates independent America
Expressive subtlety
Social insights
Illuminates assessments on American identities and history
Critical acclaim in 1970s
Began in the 18th century

6. 2. Antebellum Literature
The start of the movement

7. Antebellum Literature
N. America: 2nd half of the 18th century
“All men are created equal”
Phyllis Wheatley: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773)
Oladauh Equiano - pioneered the slave narrative

8. Antebellum Literature: 19th century
Slavery
Standard bearers of African American Literature spoke about the need to address the terrible sin of slavery.
Freedom’s Journal
(1827); a collection of essays, poems, fiction, & conventional journalism.
Extolled achievements of African Americans.
Lobbied for the end of slavery.

9. Antebellum Literature
Slave Narratives
From 1830 to the end of the slave era.
Anti-slavery movement sponsored these first-hand autobiographical accounts of slavery.
Appealed largely to middle-class Americans.
Poetry, Prose, Drama
William Wells Brown authored the first black American novel (1853): Clotel (The President’s Daughter).
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: “The Two Offers” (1859)
Harriet E. Wilson: Our Nig
Oral Tradition
Communal consciousness.
Song & story gave substance and inspiration to much of the written AAL.
Spirituals, Fables, Songs, Gospel.

10. 3. The Civil War and Reconstruction
The movement continues

11. Hopes high for a new era of freedom and opportunity
The Civil War
Outbreak of Civil War
“War to end slavery”
Charlotte Forten: author of the most important African American diary in the 19th century
End of Civil War
Hopes high for a new era of freedom and opportunity

12. Unprecedented optimism
Reconstruction
short-lived
Unprecedented optimism
Elizabeth Keckley: Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House (1863)
Anticipation of progress

13. 4. Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
The movement continues

14. Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
Educational opportunity expanded
Self-conscious black middle class authors
Reconcilement of earlier tones & topics with a real socio-political agenda
Racial justice

15. Most successful author to write in dialect
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Most successful author to write in dialect
First professional African American Author
FOUR novels & lots of poetry

16. The NOVEL as social analysis
Direct confrontation of key issues:
Prejudices
Stereotypes
Racial mythologies
No more allowances for whites to ignore worsening social conditions

17. Other Notable Authors
Booker T. Washington
W.E.B. DuBois

18. 5. The Harlem Renaissance
The movement continues

19. The Harlem Renaissance
Flowering in literature
Assertiveness and confidence
Questioned traditional “white” aesthetic standards
Self-expression
Racial pride
Literary experimentation
Receptivity to black writing
Lasted long into the 1930s

20. The Harlem Renaissance: Notable Authors
Countee Cullen
Langston Hughes
Claude McKay
Rudolph Fisher
Zora Neale Hurston
Jean Toomer

21. The movement continues6.
Urban Realism
The movement continues

22. Depreciation of black writing, art, and culture in the 1930s
Urban Realism
Depreciation of black writing, art, and culture in the 1930s
Great Depression
1930s and 40s
Depreciated work of Harlem Renaissance
Shift to political engagement
Socially critical realism

23. Urban Realism: Notable Authors
Richard Wright
Margaret Walker
Dorothy West
Ralph Ellison
James Baldwin

24. 7. The Literature of the Civil Rights
The movement continues

25. The Literature of the Civil Rights
“All art is ultimately social”
Civil rights movement
Murder of Emmett Till
Energized by the freedom struggles
Creative
Imaginative
1950s and 60s

26. Civil Rights: Notable Authors
Gwendolyn Brooks
Amiri Baraka
Margaret Esse Danner
Naomi Long Madgett

27. The movement continues8.
Renaissance in the 1970s
The movement continues

28. Literary, cultural, political developments 1950s and 60s
Renaissance in the 1970s
Literary, cultural, political developments
1950s and 60s
Visibility of female authors
Expanding presence of female expressiveness in AAL
Women’s movement
“The black women’s literary renaissance”

29. Renaissance in the 1970s: Notable Authors
Toni Morrison
Alice Walker