The origins of African American literature, 1680-1865
By: Dickson D. Bruce, Jr.
Publisher: University Press of Virginia
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Charlottesville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 374
Subjects: American literature -- African American authors -- History and criticism; American literature -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- History and criticism; American literature -- Revolutionary period, 1775-1783 -- History and criticism; American literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism; American literature -- 1783-1850 -- History and criticism; African Americans -- Intellectual life -- 17th century; African Americans -- Intellectual life -- 18th century; African Americans -- Intellectual life -- 19th century; Slaves' writings, American -- History and criticism; African Americans in literature; Slavery in literature
Description: Dickson D. Bruce argues that contrary to prevailing perceptions of African American voices as silenced and excluded from American history, those voices were loud and clear. Within the context of the wider culture, these writers offered powerful, widely read, and widely appreciated commentaries on American ideals and ambitions. The Origins of African American Literature provides strong evidence to demonstrate just how much writers engaged in a surprising number of dialogues with society as a whole. Along with an extensive discussion of major authors and texts, including Phillis Wheatley's poetry, Frederick Douglass's Narrative, Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and Martin Delany's Blake, Bruce explores less-prominent works and writers as well, thereby grounding African American writing in its changing historical settings. The Origins of African American Literature is an invaluable revelation of the emergence and sources of the specifically African American literary tradition and the forces that helped shape it.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 335-360) and index.