Self-Discovery and Authority in Afro-American Narrative
No Customer Reviews
Select Format
Select Condition 
Book Overview
It is by telling the stories of their lives that black writers--from the authors of nineteenth-century slave narratives to contemporary novelists--affirm and legitimize their psychological autonomy. So Valerie Smith argues in this perceptive exploration of the relationship between autobiography and fiction in Afro-American writing. Smith sees the processes of plot construction and characterization as providing these narrators with a measure of authority unknown in their lives. Focusing on autobiographies by Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Jacobs and the fiction of James Weldon Johnson, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, and Toni Morrison, she demonstrates the ways in which the act of narrating constitutes an act of self-fashioning that must be understood in the context of the Afro-American experience. Hers is a fertile investigation, attuned to the differences in male and female sensibilities, and attentive to the importance of oral traditions.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0674800877
ISBN13:9780674800878
Release Date:January 1987
Publisher:Harvard University Press
Length:167 Pages
Related Subjects
African-American & Black African-American Studies Antiques & Collectibles Biographical Biographies Biographies & History Biography & History Classics Criticism & Theory Encyclopedias Ethnic & National History & Criticism Literary Criticism Literary Criticism & Collections Movements & Periods Politics & Social Sciences Social Science Social Sciences Specific DemographicsCustomer Reviews
0 rating
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
