The American Protest Essay and National Belonging
Subtitle: Addressing Division
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: October 4, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 222
ISBN-13: 9780791472354
Subjects: Literary studies: general; Literary Criticism; Literature - Classics / Criticism; USA; American - General; American - African American; Feminist; 19th century; 20th century; American literature; History and criticism; Protest literature, American
Description: "The American Protest Essay and National Belonging uncovers a rich tradition of essays by writers who also serve as spokespersons for American social movements throughout the nation s history. Brian Norman demonstrates that the American protest essay is a distinct form that draws from both the European-born personal essay and American political oratory anchored in social movements. He places celebrated twentieth-century writers like James Baldwin, Vine Deloria Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois, Emma Goldman, June Jordan, Audre Lorde, Thomas Pynchon, Adrienne Rich, Gore Vidal, Alice Walker, and Richard Wright among many others in a tradition dating back to the nation's founding. Drawing on feminist and multicultural studies and movements, Norman explains how the protest essay brings particular experiences of exclusion into direct conversation with beliefs in universal equality to offer a story of national belonging that is able to address, rather than repress, division."--Jacket.