A History of the African American Novel
Cambridge University Press, 6/30/2017
EAN 9781107061729, ISBN10: 1107061725
Hardcover, 498 pages, 23.9 x 16.6 x 3.4 cm
Language: English
A History of the African American Novel offers an in-depth overview of the development of the novel and its major genres. In the first part of this book, Valerie Babb examines the evolution of the novel from the 1850s to the present, showing how the concept of black identity has transformed along with the art form. The second part of this History explores the prominent genres of African American novels, such as neoslave narratives, detective fiction, and speculative fiction, and considers how each one reflects changing understandings of blackness. This book builds on other literary histories by including early black print culture, African American graphic novels, pulp fiction, and the history of adaptation of black novels to film. By placing novels in conversation with other documents - early black newspapers and magazines, film, and authorial correspondence - A History of the African American Novel brings many voices to the table to broaden interpretations of the novel's development.
Part I. History
Introduction
1. Out of many one
the beginnings of a novelistic tradition, 1850s–1900s
2. Publish or perish
African American novels, 1900s–1920s
3. Aesthetics of race and culture
African American novels, 1920s–1940s
4. Home of the brave
African American novels, 1940s–1960s
5. Black arts and beyond
African American novels, 1960s–1970s
6. From margin to center
African American novels, 1970s–1990s
7. 'Bohemian cult-nats'
African American novels, 1990s and beyond
Part II. Significant Genres of the African American Novel
Introduction
8. The neo-slave narrative
9. The detective novel
10. The speculative novel
11. African American pulp
12. The black graphic novel
13. African American novels from page to screen
14. Novels of the diaspora.