Synopses & Reviews
This collection contributes to and advances scholarly discussions about the African American novel as a literary form. Essays respond to the general question, what has been the impact of the African American vernacular tradition—from the spirituals, blues, gospel, and jazz to hip hop—on the structure and style of the modern African American novel?
About the Author
Lovalerie King is Assistant Professor of African American Language and Literature at Penn State University.
Linda F. Selzer is Assistant Professor of English at Penn State University with a specialization in African American Literature and Culture.
Table of Contents
Anna Julia Cooper, Charles Chesnutt and the Hampton Folklore Societ-- Constructing a Black Folk Aesthetic through Folklore and Memory--Shirley Moody * Blues Narratology and the African-American Novel--Andrew Scheiber * Edward Christopher Williams and the Other Washington Novel--Jeffrey Charis-Carlson * What She Sows: The Evolution of African American Female Bildung and the Journey to Self from Zora Neale Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God to Octavia Butlers Parable of the Sower--Brenda Smith * “—And I Might Even Be Said to Possess a Mind:” Hibernation, Psychoanalysis and Schizophrenia in Invisible Man--James King * The Literate Pimp: Robert Beck, Iceberg Slim, and Pimping the African American Novel--Candice Love Jackson * “A Different Kind of Experiment”: Clarence Majors Dirty Bird Blues and the Music of Visibility Clarence Majors Dirty Bird Blues--William Nash * Underground Railroads and Drives: Gayl Joness Mosquito--Sarah Jane * Dreaming and Waking in Wonderland: Faith and the Good Thing and Charles Johnsons Fairy Tale Fictions--Gena Chandler * Seeking Space to Save Humanity: Spatial Realignments as a Structuring Motif in Octavia E. Butlers Clays Ark--Mildred Mickle * Dancing Minds and Plays in the Dark: Intersections of Fiction and Critical Texts in Gayl Joness Corregidora, Toni Cade Bambaras The Salt Eaters, and Toni Morrisons Paradise--Dana Williams * Specters of Public Massacre: Violence and the Collective in Toni Morrisons Paradise--Shreerekha Subramanian * Female Sexual Subjects in the Post-Soul Aesthetic African American Womens Novel--Lovalerie King * Stomping the Blues No More? Hip Hop Aesthetics and Contemporary African American Literature--Richard Schur * The Rise of Colson Whitehead: Hi-Tech Narratives and Literary Ascent--Howard Rambsy II