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.
William W. Cookis professor emeritus of English and African and African American studies at Dartmouth.James Tatumis professor emeritus of classics at Dartmouth. They are both the authors of numerous previous volumes.
Introduction
Chapter One. The Leisure Moments of Phillis Wheatley
Chapter Two. Frederick Douglass andThe Columbian Orator
Chapter Three. The Making of the Talented Tenth
Chapter Four. Genteel Classicism
Chapter Five. Invisible Odyssey
Chapter Six. The Pindar of Harlem
Chapter Seven. It Is Impossible Not to Write Satire
Chapter Eight. Rita Dove and the Greeks
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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