美国黑人文学——历史与文化潮流

AfricanAmericanLiteratureHistoryandCurrentTrendsAfricanAmericanLiteratureThefirstwritingsbyblacksinAmericawasautobiographicalandbecameknownastheSlaveNarrativeThreethemesdevelopedinearlyAfricanAmericanwritingsaroundtheissueofslavery:accommodation,protest,andescapeAfricanAmericanLiteratureOlaudahEquiano(GustavusVassa)(c.1745-c.1797)EqianowasthefirstblackinAmericatowriteanautobiography.InTheInterestingNarrativeoftheLifeofOlaudahEquiano,orGustavusVassa,theAfrican(1789)Equianogivesanaccountofhisnativeland(hewasanIbofromNiger)andthehorrorsofhiscaptivityandenslavementintheWestIndies.AfricanAmericanLiteratureJupiterHammon(c.1720-c.1800)PoetJupiterHammon,aslaveonLongIsland,NewYork,isrememberedforhisreligiouspoemsaswellasforAnAddresstotheNegroesoftheStateofNewYork(1787),inwhichheadvocatedfreeingchildrenofslavesinsteadofcondemningthemtohereditaryslavery.HispoemAnEveningThoughtwasthefirstpoempublishedbyablackmaleinAmerica.AfricanAmericanLiteratureLucyTerry(1730-1821)ThoughttobetheauthoroftheoldestpieceofAfrican-Americanliterature,“BarsFight”apoemwrittenin1746,aboutanIndianraidonsettlersinMassachusetts.Itwasnotpublisheduntil1855.AfricanAmericanLiteratureHarrietJacobs(1813-1897)Herslavenarrative,IncidentsintheLifeofaSlaveGirl(1861)isthemostcomprehensivebiographyofanAfricanAmericanwomanpriortotheCivilWar.Initsherecountsherlifeinslaveryinthecontextoffamilyrelationshipsreshapingtheslavenarrativegenretoincludewomen’sexperiences.AfricanAmericanLiteraturePhillisWheatley(1753-1784)ThefirstAfrican-Americanandthesecondwomantopublishabookinthecolonies,sheisoneofthebestknownearlyblackpoets;herworkwaspraisedbyleadersoftheAmericanRevolution,includingGeorgeWashington.Sheisoneofthefirstwriterstouseanepistolarystyle(intheformofletters).AfricanAmericanLiteratureFrederickDouglass(1818-1895)Orator,journalist,abolitionist,statesman,autobiographerandauthorofNarrativeoftheLifeofFrederickDouglass,anAmericanSlave,WrittenbyHimself(1845),themostinfluentialAfricanAmericantextofhisera.Hiswritingandlifecreatedamodelofself-hoodofsuchmoralandpoliticalauthority,hewaslaterviewedasaculturalhero.AfricanAmericanLiteraturePost-slaveryEraW.E.B.DuBois(1868-1963)OneofthefoundersoftheNAACP,DuBoispublishedthehighlyinfluentialTheSoulsofBlackFolk(1903)whichcreatedablackintellectualandartisticconsciousness.Hewasanessayist,novelist,academicandthepreeminentAfricanAmericanscholar-intellectualofhistime.AfricanAmericanLiteraturePost-slaveryEraBookerT.Washington(1856-1915)autobiographer,essayist,educatorJamesWeldonJohnson(1871-1938)poet,essayist,editor,educatorPaulLaurenceDunbar(1872-1906)poetAfricanAmericanLiteratureTheHarlemRenaissanceTheartisticandsocio-culturalawakeningofAfricanAmericansinthe1920sand1930sItwascenteredaroundthevibrantAfricanAmericancommunityinHarlem,NewYork,buthadfar-reachinginfluenceinart,music,literatureandsocialthought.Theinterplayofartandrace,andtheaestheticcriteriaforevaluatingblackwritingaresomeoftheintellectuallegaciesoftheHarlemRenaissance.AfricanAmericanLiteratureTheHarlemRenaissanceLangstonHughes(1902-1967)Poet,playwright,essayist,autobiographer,andchildren’sbookauthor,Hughescametoattentionin1922intheanthologyTheBookofAmericanNegroPoetry.Hismostfamouspoem,“TheNegroSpeaksofRivers”waswritteninhisteens.AfricanAmericanLiteratureTheHarlemRenaissanceZoraNealHurston(1891-1960)Novelist,anthropologist,folklorist,HurstonleftNewYorktoreturntohometowninFloridain1927.Shebegancollectingfolktales,worksongs,spiritualsandsermonstodocumenttheblackexperience.In1935shepublishedMulesandMen,thefirstvolumeofblackAmericanfolklore.Herfinestnovel,TheirEyesWereWatchingGod(1937)portraysthelifeandjourneyofastrongfemalecharactersetintheruralSouth.AfricanAmericanLiteratureTheHarlemRenaissanceAlainLocke(1886-1954)essayist,editorClaudeMcKay(1889-1948)poetJeanToomer(1894-1967)poetAnneSpencer(1882-1975)poetAfricanAmericanLiteratureRealism,Modernism,NaturalismThe1940s-1960swasaneraofsocialchangeforAfricanAmericans.InfluencesincludedtheSecondWorldWar,theSecondGreatMigration,world-widesocialmovementssuchascommunismandMarxism,andearlycivilrightslegislationwhichopenedupschoolsandjobsformanyAfricanAmericans.Urbanrealism–urbansensibilitydefinesmuchoftheliteratureofthisera.AfricanAmericanLiteratureRealism,Modernism,NaturalismRichardWright(1908-1960)novelist,autobiographer,politicalcommentator.HisinfluentialandcriticallyacclaimednovelNativeSon(1940)tellsthestoryofablackmanstrugglingforacceptanceinChicago.Itgarneredhimfinancialsuccess,internationalfameandhisoutspokenwritingstyleinfluencedagenerationofblackwriters.AfricanAmericanLiteratureRealism,Modernism,NaturalismRalphEllison(1914-1994)novelist,essayist,scholar,artist,Ellison’simportantnovelInvisibleMan(1952)isthestoryofanamelessblackmanwholearnstoasserthimself.TheInvisibleManispartofthecannonof20thCenturyAmericanliterature,thoughEllison’sonlymajorpublishedwork.AfricanAmericanLiteratureRealism,Modernism,NaturalismMargaretWalker(1915-1998)poet,novelist,educator(“ForMyPeople”;Jubilee)GwendolynBrooks(1917-200