Ten is the age of darkness
Subtitle: the Black Bildungsroman
By: Geta LeSeur.
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Columbia
Language: eng
Number of pages: 233
Subjects: American fiction -- African American authors -- History and criticism.; West Indian fiction (English) -- Black authors -- History and criticism.; Psychological fiction, American -- History and criticism.; Bildungsromans -- History and criticism.; African American children in literature.; African Americans -- Intellectual life.; Maturation (Psychology) in literature.; African Americans in literature.; Children, Black, in literature.; Blacks in literature; West Indies -- In literature.
Description: In Ten Is the Age of Darkness, Geta LeSeur explores how black authors of the United States and the English-speaking Caribbean have taken a European literary tradition and adapted it to fit their own needs for self-expression. LeSeur begins by defining the European genre of the bildungsroman, then shows how the circumstances of colonialism, oppression, race, class, and gender make the maturing experiences of selected young black protagonists different from those of their white counterparts.

Examining the parallels and differences in attitudes toward childhood in the West Indies and the United States, as well as the writers' individual perspectives in each work, LeSeur reaches intriguing conclusions about family life, community participation in the nurturing of children, the timing and severity of the youngsters' confrontation of adult society, and the role played by race in the journey toward adulthood.

LeSeur's readings of African American novels provide new insights into the work of Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, and Richard Wright, among others. When read as examples of the bildungsroman rather than simply as chronicles of black experiences, these works reveal an even deeper significance and have a more powerful impact.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-224) and index.