The signifying monkey : a theory of Afro-American literary criticism / Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.

Contributor:

Joanna Banks Collection of African American Books (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American literature--African American authors--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

American literature.

American literature--African American authors.

African Americans--Intellectual life.

African Americans.

African Americans in literature.

Criticism--United States.

Criticism.

United States.

Oral tradition--United States.

Oral tradition.

Mythology, African, in literature.

African Americans--Folklore.

American literature--African influences.

Penn Provenance:

Banks, Joanna (donor) (Banks Collection copy)

Physical Description:

xxviii, 290 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 1988.

Summary:

The Signifying Monkey is the first book of literary criticism to trace the roots of contemporary Black literature to Afro-American folklore and to the traditions of African languages. As the author examines the ancient poetry of the Ifa Oracle (found in Nigeria, Benin, Brazil, Cuba, and Haiti), he uncovers the origins of a sacred system of divination, brought to America by black slaves who felt it to be the very "heart-beat" of their souls. Gates demonstrates how a heroic and popular character called the Signifying Monkey emerged from this divination and came to pervade Afro-American culture. In providing masterful readings of literary works by Alice Walker, Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, Jean Toomer, Richard Wright, and Ishmael Reed--and in defining how the works of these authors "signify upon" each other--the author delivers a powerful and ground-breaking work of critical theory. Many previously unpublished tales about the Monkey, as well as those already published, are collected in a detailed appendix.

Contents:

Part One. A Theory of the Tradition. 1. A Myth of Origins: Esu-Elegbara and the Signifying Monkey;2. The Signifying Monkey and the Language of Signifyin(g): Rhetorical Difference and the Orders of Meaning; 3. Figures of Signification

Part Two. Reading the Tradition. 4. The Trope of the Talking Book; 5. Zora Neale Hurston and the Speakerly Text; 6. On "The Blackness of Blackness": Ishmael Reed and a Critique of the Sign; 7. Color me Zora: Alice Walker's (Re) Writing of the Speakerly Text.

Notes:

"Cover design by Scott Lerman. Cover illustration by Alberto del Pozo."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-280) and index.

Winner of a 1989 American Book Award.

Local Notes:

Kislak Center Banks Collection copy presented to the Penn Libraries by Joanna Banks.

Banks Collection copy is Harvard University Press paperback, 1989.

ISBN:

0195034635

019506075X

OCLC:

15792638