African American Literature

The literary work produced by African American writers, including the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, and contemporary writers like Toni Morrison and Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Slavery and Its Legacy: This topic covers the history and impact of slavery on African Americans and their communities in the United States. Important texts in this area include slave narratives such as Frederick Douglass's "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" and Harriet Jacobs's "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.".

The Civil Rights Movement: This topic covers the struggle for civil rights and political equality for African Americans in the United States, including figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Angela Davis. Important texts in this area include James Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time" and Ta-Nehisi Coates's "Between the World and Me.".

Black Feminism: This topic examines the intersection of race, gender, and class in the experiences and perspectives of African American women, as well as their contributions to literature and social activism. Important texts in this area include bell hooks's "Ain't I a Woman?" and Audre Lorde's "Sister Outsider.".

African-American Folklore: This topic explores the oral traditions and cultural practices of African Americans, including folk tales, music, and religion. Important texts in this area include Zora Neale Hurston's "Mules and Men" and Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon.".

The Harlem Renaissance: This topic covers the cultural movement of the 1920s and 1930s known as the Harlem Renaissance, which produced a flourishing of African American art and literature. Important figures in this movement include Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Claude McKay.

Postcolonial Theory: This topic examines the ways in which African American literature engages with and challenges Western cultural and literary traditions, as well as its connections to other postcolonial literatures. Important texts in this area include Edward Said's "Orientalism" and Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart.".

Black Nationalism: This topic explores the ideas and movements advocating for self-determination and political sovereignty for African Americans in the United States, including the Black Panthers and Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association. Important texts in this area include Malcolm X's "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" and Assata Shakur's "Assata: An Autobiography.".

African American Poetry: This topic covers the rich tradition of poetry in African American literature, including formal and experimental poetry, spoken word, and slam poetry. Important poets in this area include Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, and Langston Hughes.

African American Science Fiction: This topic examines the contributions of African American writers to the genre of science fiction, including the ways in which it reflects and critiques social and political issues faced by African Americans. Important texts in this area include Octavia Butler's "Kindred" and N.K. Jemisin's "The Fifth Season.".

The Black Arts Movement: This topic covers the cultural movement of the 1960s and 1970s known as the Black Arts Movement, which sought to create a distinct African American cultural identity through literature, music, and other art forms. Important figures in this movement include Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, and Nikki Giovanni.

Slave narratives: These are autobiographies and memoirs detailing the experiences of enslaved Africans and their descendants in America. These firsthand accounts provide valuable insight and knowledge about the daily lives of enslaved people, their culture, customs, and traditions.

Harlem Renaissance Literature: This type of literature emerged during the early 20th century in Harlem, New York, and is characterized by its emphasis on racial pride, a sense of community, and a celebration of Black culture. Key figures of this movement include Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston.

Black Feminist Literature: This type of literature focuses on the intersectionality of race and gender, particularly from the perspective of Black women. Black feminist writers, such as bell hooks and Audre Lorde, delve into issues such as racism, sexism, and sexuality, among others.

Poetry: African American literature includes a wide range of poetry from various periods and styles. From the work of Langston Hughes to the contemporary works of Nikki Giovanni and Tracy K. Smith, African American poetry reflects different themes, emotions and experiences.

Civil Rights Literature: Rooted in the movement of the 1960s, the protest literature emphasizes the fight for civil rights, particularly racial equality, social justice and political activism. Works from Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, and other writers reflect the political, social and philosophical aspects of this fight.

Contemporary African American Literature: This refers to the ongoing productions of works by black writers today. This genre often explores Black experiences and identity while at the same time challenging stereotypes and cultural assumptions. There are many contemporary writers, including Toni Morrison, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, producing high-quality works of African American literature.

Who were some influential African-American writers during the late 18th century?

- "It begins with the works of such late 18th-century writers as Phillis Wheatley."

What genre dominated African-American literature before the 19th century?

- "Before the high point of enslaved people narratives, African-American literature was dominated by autobiographical spiritual narratives."

What were slave narratives in the 19th century?

- "The genre known as slave narratives in the 19th century were accounts by people who had generally escaped from slavery, about their journeys to freedom and ways they claimed their lives."

Which period witnessed a flourishing of literature and the arts for African Americans?

- "The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s was a great period of flowering in literature and the arts."

What two groups of writers influenced the Harlem Renaissance?

- "Influenced both by writers who came North in the Great Migration and those who were immigrants from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands."

Who was the first African-American writer to receive the Nobel Prize?

- "African American writers have been recognized by the highest awards, including the Nobel Prize given to Toni Morrison in 1993."

What are some common themes explored in African-American literature?

- "Among the themes and issues explored in this literature are the role of African Americans within the larger American society, African-American culture, racism, slavery, and social equality."

What oral forms have been incorporated into African-American writing?

- "African-American writing has tended to incorporate oral forms, such as spirituals, sermons, gospel music, blues, or rap."

How has the focus of African-American literature changed over time?

- "As African Americans' place in American society has changed over the centuries, so has the focus of African-American literature."

What types of narratives were prevalent prior to the American Civil War?

- "Before the American Civil War, the literature primarily consisted of memoirs by people who had escaped from enslavement."

How did free blacks born in the North express their oppression?

- "Free blacks expressed their oppression in a different narrative form. Free blacks in the North often spoke out against enslavement and racial injustices by using the spiritual narrative."

Which authors debated the issue of confronting racism during the early 20th century?

- "At the turn of the 20th century, non-fiction works by authors such as W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington debated how to confront racism in the United States."

Which authors wrote about racial segregation and black nationalism during the Civil Rights Movement?

- "During the Civil Rights Movement, authors such as Richard Wright and Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about issues of racial segregation and black nationalism."

What books achieved both best-selling and award-winning status in African-American literature?

- "Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, which won the Pulitzer Prize; and Beloved by Toni Morrison."

How can African-American literature be broadly defined?

- "African-American literature can be defined as writings by people of African descent living in the United States."

According to Professor Albert J. Raboteau, what does African-American literature represent?

- "All African-American literary study 'speaks to the deeper meaning of the African-American presence in this nation.'"

What themes are commonly explored in African-American literature?

- "African-American literature explores the issues of freedom and equality long denied to Blacks in the United States, along with further themes such as African-American culture, racism, religion, enslavement, a sense of home, segregation, migration, feminism, and more."

How did African-American writers negotiate their identity during the early Republic?

- "In the early Republic, African-American literature represented a way for free blacks to negotiate their identity in an individualized republic."

What was a recurring theme in early African-American literature?

- "Thus, an early theme of African-American literature was, like other American writings, what it meant to be a citizen in post-Revolutionary America."

What was the role of African-American literature in post-Revolutionary America?

- "They often tried to exercise their political and social autonomy in the face of resistance from the white public."