02955nam 2200541 450 991082182140332120230807210455.010.1163/9789004293250(CKB)2670000000616346(OCoLC)909028142(nllekb)BRILL9789004293250(MiAaPQ)EBC2051371(Au-PeEL)EBL2051371(CaPaEBR)ebr11055130(CaONFJC)MIL784658(EXLCZ)99267000000061634620150528h20152015 uy 0engurun| uuuuatxtrdacontentcrdamediardacarrier"Bitter with the past but sweet with the dream" communism in the African American imaginary representations of the Communist Party, 1940-1952 /by Cathy BerginLeiden, The Netherlands :Koninklijke Brill,2015.©20151 online resource (x, 222 pages)Historical Materialism Book Series,1570-1522 ;Volume 9590-04-26372-1 90-04-29325-6 Includes bibliographical references and index.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.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.Historical materialism book series ;Volume 95.American fictionAfrican American authorsHistory and criticismAmerican fiction20th centuryHistory and criticismCommunism and literatureUnited StatesHistory20th centuryAmerican fictionAfrican American authorsHistory and criticism.American fictionHistory and criticism.Communism and literatureHistory813/.509896073Bergin Cathy1680856MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910821821403321"Bitter with the past but sweet with the dream"4049848UNINA