Towards Post-Blackness: A Critical Study of Rita Dove's Poetry

The book provides a detailed introduction to Post-Blackness as a literary aesthetic, tracing its emergence to the philosophical movement that defined itself in the visual arts towards the end of the twentieth century. It highlights the gaps in the metanarrative of history through a reformulation of visual images in the memory as signifiers with their related associations to historical trauma. It follows Rita Dove as she traces the path to this reformulation in her volumes of poetry to initiate a Hegelian progression towards a post-racial freedom. The book also highlights how poetry is the best vehicle to initiate this transition of the philosophy from the visual arts to the literary sphere.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 210 pages
Publication date: 10 November 2023
Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing Inc

The book is a comprehensive exploration of Post-Blackness as a literary aesthetic, tracing its origins back to the philosophical movement that emerged in the visual arts towards the close of the 20th century. With the aim of redefining African American identity in a postethnic era, it highlights the gaps in the historical metanarrative by reinterpreting visual images in the memory as signifiers with their associated meanings related to historical trauma. Asserting that the reformulation of identity necessitates a shift away from the centrality of race, the study follows Rita Dove as she charts the path toward this reformulation in her volumes of poetry, initiating a Hegelian progression toward a post-racial freedom that seeks to expand the contours to redefine Blackness. Recognizing poetry as perhaps the most effective means of facilitating this transition of philosophy from the visual arts to the realm of literature, the book follows Dove's reimagining of race as a spatio-temporal domain of existence and language as a lived space. By isolating signifiers and reformulating their associations with sites of historical trauma in the memory, Roy traces how Dove deconstructs history, myth, and music to arrive at a moment that is both post-racial and post-historical.

This book holds significant value for students of African American literature at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as for doctoral scholars engaged in the study of race studies and contemporary African American literature. Its comprehensive approach provides a deep understanding of Post-Blackness as a literary and cultural phenomenon, offering valuable insights into the ways in which identity is shaped and reimagined in the post-racial era.

Weight: 325g
Dimension: 225 x 150 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781636671796
Edition number: New ed