3.3 Other Notable Authors and Works

African American writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries broke new ground in literature. They moved beyond slave narratives, exploring complex racial issues and social challenges faced by Black Americans in the post-Civil War era.

These lesser-known realist and naturalist authors expanded African American literature's scope. They tackled topics like racial discrimination, passing, and class divides within the Black community, paving the way for the Harlem Renaissance and future literary movements.

Lesser-Known Realist and Naturalist Authors

Pioneering Poets and Novelists

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• Paul Laurence Dunbar was a poet, novelist and playwright associated with the realist movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who gained national recognition as one of the first African American writers to do so
• Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was an abolitionist, suffragist, poet, teacher, public speaker, and writer who became one of the first African American women to be published in the United States

Exploring Racial Identity and Injustice

• Charles W. Chesnutt was a realist author best known for his short stories and novels that explored complex issues of racial identity and injustice in the post-Civil War South
• Sutton E. Griggs, a Baptist minister and author, wrote five novels in the late 19th and early 20th centuries dealing with racial issues and has been called one of the pioneers of Black Nationalism in American literature
• Pauline Hopkins, a prominent African American novelist, journalist, playwright, historian, and editor, is considered a pioneer in her use of the romantic novel to explore social and racial themes

Authors' Contributions to the Literary Landscape

Expanding the Scope of African American Literature

• These authors expanded the scope of African American literature by moving beyond slave narratives to explore the realities and challenges of life for African Americans in the post-slavery era (Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws)
• Their novels, short stories, poetry, and other writings reached a broader audience and helped pave the way for the Harlem Renaissance and the further development of African American literature in the 20th century

Addressing Complex Social Issues

• Their works dealt with complex social issues of the time period including racial discrimination, "passing," social class divides within the African American community (Black elite, working class), and the struggle for civil rights and social justice
• Many employed realist and naturalist literary techniques to portray African American life and culture in a more authentic, unromanticized way compared to earlier works (folk culture, dialects, everyday struggles)

Themes, Styles, and Techniques: Comparisons

Shared Realist and Naturalist Techniques

• Like prominent realist authors such as Mark Twain and Henry James, these writers often depicted regional settings and dialects, ordinary characters, and social issues of the day, but their works centered the African American experience
• Some, like Dunbar and Harper, still worked in traditional poetic forms (sonnets, ballads) and employed humor and sentimentality, contrasting with the starker realism and naturalism of some white authors
• Others like Chesnutt and Hopkins were more aligned with the realist and naturalist styles in their unflinching depiction of difficult social realities and exploration of how social and environmental forces shape characters' lives

Distinctive Themes and Stylistic Innovations

• They explored themes of racial identity, discrimination, social class, and justice in a more overt way compared to most white realist authors, for whom these were more subtexts
• These authors often incorporated African American folklore, spirituals, and vernacular in stylistically innovative ways compared to their white counterparts (Br'er Rabbit tales, call-and-response patterns)

Significance of Works in African American Literature

Vital Historical and Social Documents

• These post-Reconstruction era writers played a vital role in portraying African American life and struggles in the late 19th/early 20th century, making their works important historical and social documents of the African American experience
• Recovering and recognizing these authors' works enriches our understanding of the full scope of African American literary history and production in the post-Civil War period

Anticipating the Harlem Renaissance

• They expanded the range of genres and styles in which African Americans wrote, moving beyond the slave narrative and sentimental novel to employ realist, naturalist and early modernist techniques, which opened up new possibilities for 20th century African American writers
• In their unflinching look at social issues and employment of Black vernacular and cultural traditions, they anticipated and laid groundwork for the Harlem Renaissance

Persisting Challenges and Reception

• Despite reaching unprecedented levels of white readership for African American authors, they still struggled for full recognition from the white literary establishment
• Studying their reception provides insight into the challenges African American authors continued to face in gaining full acceptance in American literary canon