1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910788133103321

Autore

Bergin Cathy

Titolo

"Bitter with the past but sweet with the dream" : communism in the African American imaginary representations of the Communist Party, 1940-1952 / / by Cathy Bergin

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Leiden, The Netherlands : , : Koninklijke Brill, , 2015

©2015

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (x, 222 pages)

Collana

Historical Materialism Book Series, , 1570-1522 ; ; Volume 95

Disciplina

813/.509896073

Soggetti

American fiction - African American authors - History and criticism

American fiction - 20th century - History and criticism

Communism and literature - United States - History - 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- 1 ‘Towards Soviet America’ -- 2 The Liberator (1929–1935) -- 3 Native Son: Ghetto Nightmares -- 4 ‘Communism is the Twentieth Century Americanism’ -- 5 Lonely Crusade: Union Dues -- 6 Invisible Man: Un-American Activities -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

The legacy of the relationship between African American writers and Communism in the US is a contested one. Bergin argues that in three novels, by seminal mid-century authors (Wright, Himes and Ellison) Communism is not dismissed as incapable of meeting the demands of black political identity but is castigated for its refusal to do so. A detailed focus on the political milieu in which these texts operate challenges many of the presumptions about the ‘inability’ of Communism to comprehend racial oppression, which dominate literary critical approaches to these novels. She draws on the complex formations black political agency presumed and reproduced by American Communism during the Depression.