12 06 2013 10 15 13 1940s 1950s in African American Literature Richard Wright father of protest tradition Uncle Toms Children 1938 Native Son 1940 Works of nonfiction to represent real things race Art and politics or art and propaganda are inseperable Blue Print for Negro Writing prescriptive formula including o Social protest o American dream failure o Identity and race issues o Fight for democracy o Product of environment Ralph Ellison Invisible Man 1952 James Baldwin Go Tell It on the Mountain Critics wanted Ellison and Baldwin to write like Wright Ellison and Baldwin were cautious to follow his lead because they didn t want to lose their independence or individuality Ralph Ellison responds to this notion in an essay titled Richard Wrights blues He says there is a different model for black men specifically in the black experience He thinks the black experience isn t one dimensional its complicated James Baldwin writes Everybody s Protest novel not simple it s complicated Bigger from Wright s novel is a horrible stereotype because it doesn t represent Wright is very concerned with what it means to be black in the Jim Crowe South South Coming of age account growth Aware of the repressive politics Jim Crowe south writing and Their eyes were watching god Janie has a romanticized experience of the Jim Crowe South Janie has a mild experience Jim Crowe south better shows the struggle they experience Eatonville was an entirely black business which made it easier less oppressive Richard Wright writes more about the inter racial aspects as opposed to the intra racial aspects of their eyes were watching god Hard to compare the very different experiences Space and Boundaries prescribed by whites Wright writes about this line and how as a black man he has to stay in a certain space not just geographical space but social lines The mother is an agent carrying out societies rules by encouraging her son to follow the laws social expecataions to protect him from being lynched for speaking acting out P 1414 must not exceed boundaries P 1416 section 4 Racial profiling Converts him into a defenseless target Black person in the night P 1418 dual role he loved to read but he had to forge a note lie to access books Wearing a mask Adaptive strategy which comes from the black folk tradition Long Black Song from Uncle Tom s Children Black marriage white salesman enters space and has sex with black wife Black husband kills white man and white mob comes after the black husband P 1429 boundaries black man couldn t go to white mans house and be sexual with his wife Society always makes him to be a boy and never a man Hate whites but dependent on them Conversations about time Time indicates their non progress Followed the formula to access the American dream but despite his best efforts they are stuck in the cycle of oppression White man is going to college and working and the time progress is working for him Also shows how the blacks and whites can t understand eachother 10 22 13 Documentary Ellison influenced by jazz Conflict between Ellison and other black authors Against black nationalism Also against the combination of art and propaganda He wanted artistic freedom Favored integration but never marched Not black or afro american he referred to himself as negro Baldwin is a protest writer very different from Ellison Not an uncle tom Invisible Man Published in 1952 Example of Ellison s integrationist stance Creates a fictional character who opposes Bigger Thomas Invisible man is a much more complex individual with educational goals Represents those who are identity less but assumed to be something instead of understood individually as a person Sight seeing blindness invisibility Battle Royale chapter political o Nude blonde dancer o Have to wear a mask and agree be a yes man be meek Go tell it on the Mountain First work of fiction by Ellison Somewhat autobiographical Baldwin similar to John Grimes John is the step child the rest are all Gabriels biological children John s father died when he was very young but John isn t aware that Gabriel isn t his father Roy and John are foil opposite characters o Roy wreckless defiant disobedient on the streets o John smart religious obedient always in church Father and sons relationships are a huge theme in the novel o Replicates the relationship with God and African Americans Gabriel is a figure for god John is stuck and isn t allowed space to figure out what he believes or who he is Struggling with issues of masculinity Elisha Role model big brother figure father figure Physical attraction between Elisha and John but they have to suppress sexuality Ellison was involved in the church and then left to be more secular and eventually is involved in bisexual relationships Elisha and Ella Mae are called out for holding hands Very strict Masturbation would be VERY frowned upon 10 29 13 Part 1 Main Speaker Internal Struggles o Sense of self o Conflicting relationships o Finding himself in society as a black man o Sense of self in society Part 2 Flash Bakcs Part 3 back to John Grimes 8th day Dramatic moment of salvation at the end he goes back home with family embers Pastors kid pk expected to be respectable and compliant Setting time place March 1935 Harlem setting Change in views Setting clarifies ambiguity with John finding salvation in the Church maybe not actually saved By moving North they would leave bondage and oppression The book criticizes the notion of leaving bondage and oppression because it gives such negative experiences in the Harlem ghetto and in the Grimes household Baldwin suggesting they are trapped in hell Beauty Appearance Color Face of satan Gabriel tells John a lot Black church has internalized fixed notions of beauty like the whites western world o Black unattractive very evil o White pure good safe Church doesn t allow John to find manhood or positive self image Lives of the Grimes family second section with relation to part 1 Background information Helps understand the characters Baldwin showed the options black Americans had at that time Allows the reader to form opinions that go deeper than just part 1 Part 1 gave present info part 2 gives the past information which led the members of the family to be the way that they are Why he did it in that backwards order You would sympathize with the characters he oesn t want you to sympathize with the characters he doesn t want you to sympathize with Coming of age throughout the novel you learn more