Geographies of Flight: Phillis Wheatley to Octavia Butler

Geographies of Flight: Phillis Wheatley to Octavia Butler explores how African American authors have confronted the predicament of inhabiting space under conditions of bondage and structural oppression, questioning the spatial dimensions of a mythic American liberty and developing countergeographies in which descendants of the African diaspora lay claim to the America they have materially and culturally created.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 304 pages
\n Publication date: 30 September 2020
\n Publisher: Northwestern University Press
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Geographies of Flight: Phillis Wheatley to Octavia Butler delves into the intricate ways in which African American authors have navigated the challenges of occupying space within the constraints of bondage and systemic oppression throughout three centuries. In his examination, William Merrill Decker sheds light on how fourteen black authors have sought to challenge and transform a national cartography that, even in the twenty-first century, perpetuates white supremacist assumptions. These writers interrogate the spatial dimensions of a mythical American liberty and cultivate countergeographies that assert the rightful claim of descendants of the African diaspora to the America they have both materially and culturally shaped.

Tracking the testimonial voice across various literary genres, Geographies of Flight delves into the themes of placement and mobility in the works of Phillis Wheatley, Olaudah Equiano, David Walker, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W. E. B. Du Bois, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and Octavia Butler.

Through this comprehensive exploration, Geographies of Flight offers a profound understanding of the ways in which African American writers have challenged, subverted, and reimagined the spatial narratives that have shaped their lives and the broader cultural landscape. It serves as a testament to the resilience and creativity of African American writers in the face of adversity, highlighting their contributions to shaping the spatial imagination of America.

\n Weight: 442g\n
Dimension: 154 x 229 x 23 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780810142329\n \n