African American Writers and Classical Tradition

by Cook, William W.; Tatum, James

• ISBN13: 9780226789972
• ISBN10: 0226789977
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-04-16
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Constraints on freedom, education, and individual dignity have always been fundamental in determining who is able to write, when, and where. Considering the singular experience of the African American writer, William W. Cook and James Tatum here argue that African American literature did not develop apart from canonical Western literary traditions but instead grew out of those literatures, even as it adapted and transformed the cultural traditions and religions of Africa and the African diaspora along the way. Tracing the interaction between African American writers and the literatures of ancient Greece and Rome, from the time of slavery and its aftermath to the civil rights era and on into the present, the authors offer a sustained and lively discussion of the life and work of Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison, and Rita Dove, among other highly acclaimed poets, novelists, and scholars. Assembling this brilliant and diverse group of African American writers at a moment when our understanding of classical literature is ripe for change, the authors paint an unforgettable portrait of our own reception of "classic" writing, especially as it was inflected by American racial politics.

Author Biography

William W. Cook is professor emeritus of English and African and African American studies at Dartmouth College, James Tatum is professor emeritus of classics at Dartmouth College.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
The Leisure Moments of Phillis Wheatley	p. 7
Frederick Douglass and The Columbian Orator	p. 49
The Making of the Talented Tenth	p. 93
Genteel Classicism	p. 125
Invisible Odyssey	p. 155
The Pindar of Harlem	p. 207
It Is Impossible Not to Write Satire	p. 261
Rita Dove and the Greeks	p. 311
Notes	p. 377
Bibliography	p. 417
Index	p. 435
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