Synopses & Reviews
Houston Baker maintains that black American culture, grounded ina unique historical experience, is distinct from any other, and that it has produceda body of literature that is equally and demonstrably unique in its sources, values, and modes of expression. He argues that black American literature is rooted in blackfolklore- animal tales, trickster slave tales, religious tales, folk songs, spirituals, and ballads- and that a knowledge of this tradition is essential to theunderstanding of any individual black author or work. To deomonstrate the continuityof this tradition, Baker examines themes that appear in folklore and persistthroughout contemporary black literature. Freedom and Apocalypse, for example, traces the idea that black Americans are a chosen people who will, by some violentmeans, overthrow the white man's tyranny.
Theessays culminate in an examination of the life and work of Richard Wright. Baker'streatment of Wright as a black American artist who recorded the black man's shiftfrom an agrarian to an urban setting places Wright and the tradition of blackliterature and culture in a fresh perspective.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 145-151) and index.