Exorcising blackness
Subtitle: historical and literary lynching and burning rituals
By: Trudier Harris.
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 1984
Place of publication: Bloomington, Ind
Language: eng
Number of pages: 222
Subjects: American fiction -- African American authors -- History and criticism; Lynching in literature; African American men in literature; Castration in literature; Race relations in literature; Violence in literature; African Americans -- Crimes against; Lynching -- United States -- History; African Americans -- Intellectual life
Description: "By lynching, burning, castrating, raping, and mutilating black people, contends Trudier Harris, white Americans were performing a rite of exorcism designed to eradicate the "black beast" from their midst, or, at the very least, to render him powerless and emasculated. Black writers have graphically portrayed such tragic incidents in their writings. In doing so, they seem to be acting out a communal role--a perpetuation of an oral tradition bent on the survival of the race. Exorcising Blackness demonstrates that the closeness and intensity of black people's historical experiences sometimes overshadows, frequently infuses and enhances, and definitely makes richer in texture the art of black writers. By reviewing the historical and literary interconnections of the rituals of exorcism, Harris opens up the hidden psyche--the soul--of black American writers."--Google Books viewed Jan. 6, 2022.
Notes: Bibliography: p. 213-218.
Includes index.