14.1 Major themes and literary developments

African American literature before 1900 grappled with themes of freedom, identity, and justice. Writers like Frederick Douglass and Phillis Wheatley used their works to assert humanity and resist oppression, while also exploring the complexities of racial identity in America.

The literature reflected historical realities of slavery, emancipation, and ongoing civil rights struggles. It also addressed social influences like pseudoscientific racism, highlighting the importance of education and religion in African American communities. These works laid a foundation for future literary developments.

Themes in African American Literature

Freedom and Identity

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• Freedom and liberation permeate narratives of escape from slavery and resistance to oppression
  • Explore personal and collective emancipation (Frederick Douglass's autobiographies)
  • Articulate African American experiences in the face of dehumanizing societal structures
• Identity and self-definition emerge as crucial themes
  • Assert humanity against oppressive systems (Phillis Wheatley's poetry)
  • Grapple with complexities of racial identity in America

Struggle for Justice and Equality

• Address racial discrimination and social injustice throughout literature
  • Highlight fight for civil rights and full citizenship (David Walker's "Appeal")
  • Explore impacts of Reconstruction and rise of Jim Crow laws
• Education and literacy portrayed as paths to empowerment
  • Emphasize importance in quest for freedom and equality
  • Reflect historical prohibitions on slave literacy (Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass)

Family, Community, and Cultural Heritage

• Family and community bonds sustain through slavery and its aftermath
  • Explore complexities of kinship under oppressive systems (Harriet Jacobs's "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl")
  • Highlight importance of communal support in resistance strategies
• Preservation and celebration of African cultural heritage recurs
  • Juxtapose African traditions with realities of life in America
  • Serve as form of cultural resistance against forced assimilation (Jupiter Hammon's poetry)

Religion and Spirituality

• Christianity plays significant role in African American communities
  • Reflect its use as both tool of oppression and source of hope
  • Explore retention of African spiritual practices alongside Christianity
• Spiritual themes provide comfort and inspiration
  • Offer means of transcendence from earthly suffering
  • Incorporate biblical allusions to critique slavery (Phillis Wheatley's "On Being Brought from Africa to America")

Context of African American Literature

Historical Realities

• Theme of freedom correlates with historical reality of slavery and its abolition
  • Reflect lived experiences of many African American writers (Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman)
  • Address challenges of emancipation and Reconstruction era
• Ongoing struggles for civil rights mirror themes of equality and justice
  • Explore impacts of Black Codes and Jim Crow laws
  • Highlight efforts for full citizenship and political participation (Ida B. Wells's anti-lynching campaign)

Social and Cultural Influences

• Dehumanizing effects of slavery and racial prejudice shape focus on identity
  • Respond to pseudoscientific racism and negative stereotypes
  • Construct positive self-image in hostile social environment (Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" speech)
• Disruptions caused by slavery impact themes of family and community
  • Address forced separations and attempts to maintain kinship ties
  • Highlight role of extended family and communal networks in survival

Educational and Religious Contexts

• Emphasis on education reflects post-Civil War focus on advancement
  • Highlight establishment of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs)
  • Address debates over industrial vs. liberal arts education (Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois)
• Complex role of Christianity in African American life shapes religious themes
  • Explore formation of independent black churches
  • Address use of religion in both oppression and resistance (slave spirituals, AME Church)

Evolution of African American Literature

Early Forms and Genres

• Slave narrative emerges as dominant form in antebellum period
  • Characterized by first-person accounts of enslavement and escape
  • Follow specific conventions and tropes (Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass)
• Spiritual autobiographies blend religious experiences with literary self-representation
  • Evolve from earlier Puritan models
  • Incorporate African American religious perspectives (Jarena Lee)

Poetry and Oral Traditions

• Poetry develops from early folk traditions to more formal styles
  • Adapt European poetic forms to express African American themes (Phillis Wheatley)
  • Incorporate elements of oral tradition and vernacular speech (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
• Use of trickster figure and folkloric elements infuses cultural specificity
  • Draw from African and African American oral traditions
  • Employ subversive potential in storytelling (Charles Chesnutt's "The Goophered Grapevine")

Prose Fiction and Realism

• Sentimental novel adapted to address issues of race
  • Subvert genre conventions to critique social injustices (Harriet Wilson's "Our Nig")
  • Blend romantic and realistic elements (Frances E.W. Harper's "Iola Leroy")
• Realist and naturalist techniques emerge in late 19th century fiction
  • Reflect broader literary trends
  • Address contemporary social issues with greater verisimilitude (Charles Chesnutt's "The Wife of His Youth")

African American Literature vs Dominant Traditions

Subversion of Literary Forms

• Appropriate and reimagine classical and biblical allusions
  • Use to critique slavery and racial oppression (Phillis Wheatley's poetry)
  • Challenge dominant cultural narratives through reinterpretation
• Slave narrative subverts conventional autobiographical forms
  • Focus on journey from bondage to freedom
  • Challenge notion of self-made individual in American literature (Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs)

Language and Expression

• Employ double-voiced discourse in texts
  • Create works readable differently by white and black audiences
  • Subvert censorship and speak to multiple communities (Charles Chesnutt's short stories)
• Use vernacular language and dialect in formal literary works
  • Challenge prevailing notions of "proper" English
  • Assert validity of African American modes of expression (Paul Laurence Dunbar's dialect poetry)

Genre Subversion and Cultural Assertion

• Invert or parody popular literary genres
  • Expose and critique racist underpinnings of plantation novels and minstrel shows
  • Use humor and irony to undermine stereotypes (Charles Chesnutt's "The Conjure Woman")
• Incorporate African folktales, proverbs, and oral traditions
  • Challenge dominance of European literary forms
  • Assert value of African cultural heritage in written literature (Joel Chandler Harris's "Uncle Remus" stories, though problematic)

Intersectionality in Women's Writing

• Women writers challenge both racial and gender conventions
  • Combine critiques of racism with explorations of sexism
  • Address unique experiences of African American women (Harriet Jacobs, Frances E.W. Harper)
• Subvert domestic novel traditions
  • Redefine notions of womanhood and domesticity
  • Explore impacts of racism on family and home life (Harriet Wilson's "Our Nig")