Black Metafiction : Self-Consciousness in African American Literature

Black Metafiction examines the tradition of self-consciousness in African American literature. It points to the shortcomings of theories of metafiction founded on studies of Anglo-American literature. While some literary critics situate metafiction within the domain of postmodernism, others regard it to be as old as storytelling itself. Scholars of African American literature acknowledge it to be a distinguishing feature. Critics such as Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Houston A. Baker, Jr., perceive it as fundamental to the aesthetics of the black vernacular. Black Metafiction analyzes and evaluates these theories, comparing work by scholars of comparative, Anglo-American, and African American literature. Jablon's study leads to her revision of established theories and provides a model for the evaluation and reformulation of other Eurocentric theories.