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Full Description
Existentialist Thought in African American Literature Before 1940 is the first collection of its kind to break new ground in arguing that long before its classification by Jean-Paul Sartre, African American literature embodied existentialist thought. To make its case, this daring book dissects eight notable texts: Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845) and My Bondage and My Freedom (1855), Sojourner Truth's Ain't I A Woman (1861), Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl (1861), Sutton E. Griggs's Imperium in Imperio (1899), James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912), and Nella Larsen's Quicksand (1928) and Passing (1929). It explores and addresses a wide range of complex philosophical concepts such as: authenticity, potentiality-for-authentic living, bad faith, and existentialism from the Christian point of view. The use of interdisciplinary studies such as gender studies, queer studies, Christian ethics, mixed-race studies, and existentialism, allows the authors within this book to lend unique perspectives in examining selected African American literary works.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Legacy of Existentialism in African American Literature Before 1940
Melvin Hill
Chapter 1: Morality, Art, and the Self: Existentialism in Frederick Douglass and Søren Kierkegaard
Timothy Golden
Chapter 2: I'm Not Here: Existential Acts in 19th Century African American Women's Narrative
Jeannine King
Chapter 3: Sutton E. Griggs's Existential Vision in Imperium in Imperio: The New Negro
Melvin G. Hill
Chapter 4: Existential Authenticity in Early 20th Century African-American Passing Narratives
Renee Barlow
Chapter 5: "Clare Kendry Cared Nothing For the Race. She Only Belonged to It": The Intersectional Bad Faith of Race and Gender in Nella Larsen's Passing
Chase Dimock
About the Contributors
