Prof.dr.

Rodica Mihaila
Contemporary American Literature
Course 1_4
2
nd
Year American Studies

rd
Year !n"lish minor
Sprin" Semester 2#11
The Black Novel
Certain outlines of the $lac% no&el emer"e since Richard 'ri"ht (1)#*+1),#- "i&es it
shape .ith Uncle's Tom Children (1)*-/ Native Son (1)4#-/ Black Boy (1)40-
Major concerns1
+ memories of sla&ery
+ protest and fury
+ the contradictory search for di"nity in a .orld dominated $y .hite &alues
+ the conflict $et.een the artistic and political natures of the .riter
+ the .riter2s se3ual comple3ities
+ the e3istential 4uality of his life
+ his need for an ethnic definition of himself
The Negro 5
+ an ima"e of man under certain conditions of ur"ency and stress/ deri&in" life from an
inner source ( Mailer 6 7erouac-
+ an outsider .ho none the less en"a"es his "uilt/ fantasy and &iolence of others and thus
em$odies an historic re&elation
+ 'ri"ht says1 89he :e"ro is America2s metaphor8
9hese are challen"es !llison meets in his Invisible Man (1)02- ; his only $oo% < $oo%
of essays1 Shado. and Act (1),4-
Ralph Ellison (1)14+1))4-
+ $orn in =%lahoma ( does not feel all restraints that the old sla&e states on their >lac%s-/
"randson of sla&es.
+.ent to a $lac% colle"e in Ala$ama (felt the di&idin" line of se"re"ation ; essay1 ?oin"
to the 9erritory-
+ @is Sense of the human condition tends to $e more comple3 and e3pansi&e than some
other >lac% militants allo.
+ an artist educated in sculpture and musicA sho.s a sophisticated sense of form (mi3tures
of the mar&elous and the terri$le- and sense of BaCC+li%e impro&isation
+met 'ri"ht in :e. Yor%. @is early .or% (stories- influenced $y 'ri"ht and naturalism.
+Later/ he de&eloped his o.n style1 mi3ture of realism/ surrealism/ sym$olism/ fol%lore
and myth.
Invisible Man (1)02- 5 the most compellin" $oo% a$out identity in the 0#s (naturalism
and ni"htmare-
+ the nameless hero and narrator of Dn&isi$le Man (an ironic picares4ue- @is tas% 1 to
mo&e from in&isi$ility to &ision ($e it a pro&isional &ision of thin"s- ;
+he li&es in an under"round se.er in :e. Yor%/ .hich he furnishes and li"htens up
$ri"ht $y stealin" electricity. Dt is there that he starts .ritin" his $oo%. @e narrates his
memories of the 7af%aes4ue pil"rima"e in his early days in the South (hi"h+school
student/ $lac% colle"e .here the president spurns $lac% American concerns/ e3pelled
from colle"e he "oes to :e. Yor% and comes across all sorts of croo%s1 a leader of the
Communist >rotherhood (party politics-/ a preacher .ho turns out to $e a criminal
(reli"ion-/
+ throu"h the dan"ers/ corruption/ and temptation a.aintin" him/ he recapitulates the
history of his o.n race/ conductin" a hopeless 8psycholo"ical scrimma"e8 ($attle- .ith
e&ery one/ himself included.
+ e3ploited $y all E African nationalists/ Southern $i"ots and :orthern li$erals/ .omen
and ali%e + he proceeds from innocence to disillusionment to the ed"e of a ne. .isdom/ a
dialectic sense of himself. Dn the under"round se.er he li&es on the ed"e/ is in a F$order
areaG/ .here he can understand his in&isi$ility and as%s us/ readers/ the 4uestion that ends
the $oo%1 H'ho %no.s $ut that/ on the lo.er fre4uencies/ D spea% for youIJ (?ray/ p.,K0-
?ray1
+ the $rilliant no&el en"a"es issues of @istory/ Soul and Art E it stands as an early
landmar% in all of post.ar literature.
+it is a no&el .ho e3plores the pluralities of Am culture and identity
; the no&elistGs tas% is Hto challen"e the apparent forms of realityJ and Hto stru""le .ith it
until it re&eals its mad/ &ari+implicated chaos/ its false faces/ and on until it surrenders its
insi"ht/ its truth.J (,K,-
+a no&el in the "reat tradition of Am monolo"ue1 of anecdote and tall tale/ sermon and
auto$io"raphy/ Bournals and son"s of the self. ; influence of A$salomL and 'ri"htGs
:ati&e Son
+it is the no&el as epic and the no&el as myth (e&eryman-
Other Black Novelists
James Baldwin ($orn 1)24 + 1)*K- E fiction/ drama/ essays self e3iled in Paris for a
decade (1)4* + 1)0*-. After his return >ald.in ser&ed as a spo%esman for the artistic
coscience in its stru""le .ith its >lac% inheritance/ in its aspiration to a human estate.
Go To Tell It On the Mountain (1)0- + 1
st
no&el 5 a story of initiation and of denial
+ depicts the family of a @arlem preacher/ .hose $astard step son/ Mohn ?rimes/ma%es his
.ay throu"h adolescence to manhood. (auto$io"raphical-. @e ma%es his .ay to a
reco"nition of his o.n humanity and presence in the community.
Another Country (1),2-
Tell Me o! "on# the Train's Been Gone (1),*-
Dn these 2 no&els he attempts to place racial and political conflicts in an erotic focus.
Style1 "raceful and apocalyptic
I$ Beale Street Could Talk (1)K4- + a no&el a$out a .oman2s stru""le to free her falsely
imprisoned fiancNe.
%ust Above My ead (1)K)- + retrospecti&ely treats the life of a @arlem "ospel sin"er as
he and his family search for their identities and for sal&ation.
1*0K + Harriet nn Jacobs! The "i$e o$ a Slave Girl+ no&el of seduction++ sla&e
narrati&e.
"ora Neal H#rston (1)#1+1),#- + antropolo" anii # E marturii ale culturii Afro+
Americane
+ &iata in interiorul comunitatilor ne"reA po&ara rasismului A inters stiintific.
e3.1 Their &yes 'ere 'atchin# God (1)K-
Ma$a ngelo# (1)2*+ - + poeta
I (no! 'hy the Ca#e Bird Sin#s + po&estea ei + 1, ani
+ 9eme1 inocenta/ supra&ietuire E auto$io"rafic
identitate E ritmurile lim$ii
lice %alker (1)44+ - + suporter al drepturilor ci&ile
+ relatia dintre forme de rasism si structura familiei Afro+ Am.
+ &iolenta/ cruCimea/ cultura di&iCata + e3ploreaCa &iolenta rasial si se3uala com$inate
pentru a distru"e sinele
Remediu1 dra"ostea materna si familiala chiar si dra"ostea de sine dau un sens al
identrtatii
The Color )ur*le (1)*2-
Toni Morrison &'()* +
,oets
Mar"aret 'al%er (1)10+ - < hist. no&el Mu$ilee (1),,-
:i%%i ?io&anni
Sonia SancheC
9oni Cade >am$ara (1))+
Maya An"elou (1)2*+
Lucille Clifton + Generations (1)K,-
merican Nobel ,ri-e %inners. + Toni Morrison '((/
Sinclair Le.is 1)#
=2:eill 1),
Pearl >uc% 1)*
9 S !liot 1)4*
Oaul%ner 1)0#
@emin".ay 1)04
Stein$ec% 1),2
Dsaac Sin"er 1)K* + scriitor in lim$a idisA de ori"ine poloneCa
CCesla. MilosC 1)*# + poet lituanian A emi"rant din Polonia