African American Literature of the Twenty-First Century and the Black Arts: The Case of John Edgar Wideman

The Black Arts era of the 1960s and 1970s was separated from the 1980s by a trend in African American literary history, according to the author. However, John Edgar Wideman's six novels from 1987 to 2017 complicate this reductive characterization, as they overflow with the criminal element and express continuities with an ongoing engagement with African or Black Atlantic cosmology. They enable reassessment of the black arts legacy, entering the world on their own terms, producing their own reality, and working through the black arts notion of functional art.

Format: Hardback
Length: 230 pages
Publication date: 24 June 2021
Publisher: Lexington Books

For nearly half a century, a prevailing narrative in African American literary history has confined the Black Arts era of the 1960s and 1970s to a separate realm, divorcing it from the vibrant and avant-garde writing that flourished in the 1980s. This historical account suggests that the emerging literature of that time abandoned and distanced itself from the anti-aesthetic stance of the Black Arts movement, which prioritized racial tensions, strident polemics, and romantic solidarity with the Black underclass. However, the author contends that John Edgar Wideman's six novels, spanning from 1987 to 2017, challenge this simplistic portrayal of the black arts. These works are teeming with criminal characters: accused rapists and murderers, victims of both unsanctioned lynchings and sanctioned executions. While engaging in aesthetic experimentation, they convey a spirit of relentless invention and improvisation that stems from an ongoing engagement with African or Black Atlantic cosmology. Consequently, these novels offer a means to reassess the legacy of the black arts, entering the world on their own terms, crafting their own realities, and working through the concept of functional art as articulated within the black arts movement. It is through the alchemy of a magical Black Atlantic craft that these works transcend written representation, transforming the novel itself into a functional tool—a charm—of protection and healing.

Weight: 531g
Dimension: 228 x 161 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781793614605