(45) African-American Nineteenth Century Literature.

(P. Wheatley, F. Douglass, J. C. Harris, B. T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, C. W. Chesnutt, and P. L. Dunbar).

 

A f r o - A m e r i c a n  L i t e r a t u r e

[See "Background for Topics 45-46..."]

 

P h i l l i s  W h e a t l e y  ( c a  1 7 5 3 – 8 4 )

L i f e :

- brought to Am. when 8 and sold to the Boston merchant Wheatley

- quickly learnt to read and write in E

- studied Lat., Gr., the classics, and the Bible

- officially granted freedom

- her failing marriage, death of children, and declining health resulted in her death

P o e t r y :

- occasional poems

- ⅓ of her poems elegies, the rest on relig., classical, abstract, and sometimes patriotic themes

- a surprising lack of reference to her own experience as a slave / free Af.-Am.

- a neo-classical style

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious, and Moral (1773):

- the 1^st vol. of poetry to be publ. by an Af.-Am.

- publ. in London, enchanted London society during her visits

Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley (1834, posthum.)

 

F r e d e r i c k  D o u g l a s s  ( c a 1 8 1 7 – 9 5 )

L i f e :

- son of a black slave, Harriet Bailey, and an unknown white father

- escaped on the 2^nd try (1838) and adopted the name Douglass (from W. Scott’s hero in The Lady of the Lake)

- feared of being re-captured, spent several y. in En. and Ir., and returned only after being purchased freedom by his E friends

- learned to read and write while in the service of a kind mistress in Baltimore

- an eloquent speaker, became an agent and lecturer of the MA Anti-Slavery Society, organised the regiments of Af.-Am. in the Civil War, and continued to urge civil rights for Af.-Am. during Reconstruction

- defended also women’s rights

- favoured the use of political methods x W. L. Garrison

W o r k :

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845):

< B. Franklin’s Autobiography = moral tale of a repres. Am. <=> D.’s Narrative = a moral tale of a repres. Af.-Am. trying to reach white audience

< J. F. Cooper’s Ind. captivity narratives x D.’s Narrative: ironically the Southerners as the brute savage Ind. keeping the slaves in bonds

< the Elect Nation captivated by its enemy

- language: a quality of spoken E

- content: an exposition of the institution of slavery on the grounds of:

(a) defying the spirit of Christianity

(b) defying humanity

(c) defying the human rights ensured by law in the “Declaration of Independence”

- an ability to analyse, expose, and exploit the system

D.’s Narrative x Twain’s Jim in Huck:

- analysis: J. closer to the prototype of an Af.-Am., lacks the ability to analyse, never seeks to learn to read and write, etc. x D. breaks even the positive stereotype of an Af.-Am., thinks it restrictive

- power: J. never uses power, not even in self-defend, though a big and strong man x D. leads a long fight with the master (again a penetration into the system and into his master’s pride: reputed a Negro-breaker x not a weak Negro-killer)

- superstition: J. superstitious, irrational, though the superstitions prove to be true x D. not superstitious, rational, though he accepts the magic roots by a free (!) black man Sandy: later ed. abolish the superstition to replace it by wisdom instead

(–) J.’s passivity, lack of fighting back, and his only piece of activity being his running away

(+) D.’s activity, resistance, seeking education, etc.

My Bondage and My Freedom and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass: later versions covering his period of freedom as well

 

J o e l  C h a n d l e r  H a r r i s

[see H. ‘39 M. Twain…’]

 

B o o k e r  T .  W a s h i n g t o n  ( 1 8 5 6 – 1 9 1 5 )

L i f e :

- son of a black slave and an unknown white slave-owning father

- adopted his stepfather’s 1^st name as a surname

- sought to educate himself and proved a tough will

<=> B. Franklin’s concept of self-discipline and self-reliance as the way to the ‘American dream’ for any poor boy

- achieved an invitation to the dinner given by President T. Roosevelt, a honorary degree from Harvard, etc.

W o r k :

- a major moderate social activist

- promoted a technical and vocational training for Af.-Am. to enable them earn a decent living, believed the political rights would come only later, and defended the non-assimilation of Af.-Am.

- his lifetime: called the ‘Moses of his race’ x 1960s: dismissed as an ‘Uncle Tom’ by the Af.-Am. militants during the civil right struggles

Up From Slavery (1901): his autobiog.

“The Atlanta Compromise” (1895): his speech presenting his moderate policy

 

W . E . B .  d u B o i s  ( 1 8 6 8 – 1 9 6 3 )

L i f e :

- b. free, of mixed orig., chiefly black

- did not have to struggle for survival x B. T. Washington

- received a cosmopolitan education

- became a scholar reflecting on the status of Af.-Am. in the post-Civil War Am.

- turned to a social activist in the period of violent racism and lynching in the 1890s

- responded in more complex ways to a complex social world than was possible for B. T. Washington

W o r k :

- a major militant social activist

-promoted the rights of Af.-Am. in terms of education

- ed. The Crisis, journal of NAACP = National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People

“The Niagara Movement”:

- declared the need for Af.-Am. to demand social equality also by militant means

The Souls of the Black Folk (1903):

- characterised the nature of his work by the words:

(a) ‘the souls’ of Af.-Am.

(b) ‘the veil’ thrown by the whites on the Af.-Am. to make them invisible > R. Ellison’s Invisible Man

(c) ‘the problem’ of racism

(d) ‘crisis’ the entire society will have to pass before the establ. of justice

 

C h a r l e s  W a d d e l l  C h e s n u t t  ( 1 8 5 8 – 1 9 3 2 )

- supported by W. D. Howells, received favourable reviews in his Atlantic Monthly, and found a large readership also by white audience

- conc. not with slavery x but: the status of Af.-Am. in the post-Civil War Am.

The Conjure Woman (1899):

- a coll. of dialect short stories

- the central narrator Uncle Julius = a more realistic counterpart of J. C. Harris’s Uncle Remus

- a knowledge of folklore

The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Colour Line (1899):

- a coll. of dialect short stories

- often melodramatic themes of racial tensions (“The Wife of His Youth”)

The Marrow of Tradition (1901): a novel contrasting the liberal x radical attitudes of Af,-Am. twd their lynching in a small town

Frederick Douglass (1899): a biogr. of D.

 

P a u l  L a u r e n c e  D u n b a r  ( 1 8 7 2 – 1 9 0 6 )

- supported by his mentor W. D. Howells (claimed he did not care his parents were b. slaves in his review), acquainted with F. Douglass, B. T. Washington, and W. E. B. du Bois

- became famous

P o e t r y :

Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896):

(a) in the Af.-Am. dialect: gifted in poetry in using the dialect to convey the character <=> the way M. Twain in prose

(b) in traditional poetic forms: “Frederick Douglass”, ode; “The Haunted Oak”, ballad; “We Wear the Mask”, the cruel fate of his people

P r o s e :

The Strength of Gideon and Other Stories (1900): a coll. of short stories

The Uncalled (1898): a semi-autobiog. novel

The Sport of the Gods (1902):

- the only of his 4 novels focusing on the black man’s experience

- a naturalistic portrayal of the break-up of a black family driven to the urban North after a wrongful accusation of crime