03947nam 2200613Ia 450 991079234670332120200520144314.01-282-53867-597866125386740-226-78998-510.7208/9780226789989(CKB)2670000000015061(EBL)515728(OCoLC)609863517(SSID)ssj0000356381(PQKBManifestationID)12134872(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000356381(PQKBWorkID)10349591(PQKB)11775169(MiAaPQ)EBC515728(DE-B1597)523817(OCoLC)1135585713(DE-B1597)9780226789989(PPN)174747144(EXLCZ)99267000000001506120090821d2010 uy 0engur|nu---|u||utxtccrAfrican American writers and classical tradition[electronic resource] /William W. Cook & James TatumChicago ;London University of Chicago Press20101 online resource (466 p.)Description based upon print version of record.0-226-78996-9 Includes bibliographical references and index.Front matter --Contents --Introduction --1. The Leisure Moments of Phillis Wheatley --2. Frederick Douglass and The Columbian Orator --3. The Making of the Talented Tenth --4. Genteel Classicism --5. Invisible Odyssey --6. The Pindar of Harlem --7. It Is Impossible Not to Write Satire --8. Rita Dove and the Greeks --Notes --Bibliography --IndexConstraints on freedom, education, and individual dignity have always been fundamental in determining who is able to write, when, and where. Considering the singular experience of the African American writer, William W. Cook and James Tatum here argue that African American literature did not develop apart from canonical Western literary traditions but instead grew out of those literatures, even as it adapted and transformed the cultural traditions and religions of Africa and the African diaspora along the way. Tracing the interaction between African American writers and the literatures of ancient Greece and Rome, from the time of slavery and its aftermath to the civil rights era and on into the present, the authors offer a sustained and lively discussion of the life and work of Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison, and Rita Dove, among other highly acclaimed poets, novelists, and scholars. Assembling this brilliant and diverse group of African American writers at a moment when our understanding of classical literature is ripe for change, the authors paint an unforgettable portrait of our own reception of "classic" writing, especially as it was inflected by American racial politics.American literatureAfrican American authorsHistory and criticismAmerican literatureClassical influencesafrican american literature, literary criticism, education, dignity, identity, cultural traditions, western lit, religion, diaspora, africa, ancient greece, rome, slavery, civil rights era, jim crow, phillis wheatley, frederick douglass, ralph ellison, rita dove, poets, poetry, famous novelists, black scholars, racial politics, classical influences, leisure moments, genteel classicism, harlem, satire.American literatureAfrican American authorsHistory and criticism.American literatureClassical influences.810.9/896073Cook William W(William Wilburt)1550879Tatum James287061MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910792346703321African American writers and classical tradition3810083UNINA