Born in a mighty bad land : the violent man in African American folklore and fiction / Jerry H. Bryant.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bryant, Jerry H., 1928-

Series:

Blacks in the diaspora.

Blacks in the diaspora

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American fiction--African American authors--History and criticism.

American fiction.

Violence in literature.

Literature and folklore--United States.

Literature and folklore.

African American men in literature.

African Americans--Folklore.

African Americans.

Violence--Folklore.

Violence.

Men in literature.

Men--Folklore.

Men.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (251 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The figure of the violent man in the African American imagination has a long history. He can be found in 19th-century bad man ballads like 'Stagolee' and 'John Hardy,' as well as in the black convict recitations that influenced 'gansta' rap. Born in a Mighty Bad Land connects this figure with similar characters in African American fiction.

Contents:

The classic badman and the ballad

Postbellum violence and its causes : "displaced rage" in a preindustrial culture

Between the wars : the genteel novel, counterstereotypes, and initial probes

From the genteel to the primitive : the twenties and thirties

The ghetto bildungsroman : from the forties to the seventies

Toasts : tales of the "bad nigger"

Chester Himes : Harlem absurd

A "toast" novel : pimps, hoodlums, and hit men

Walter Mosley and the violent men of Watts

Rap : going commercial

The badman and the storyteller : John Edgar Wideman's homewood trilogy

Toni Morrison : Ulysses, badmen, and archetypes

abandoning violence

Appendix : Analysis of thirty prototype ballads.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-282-07213-7

0-253-10122-0

0-253-10989-2

9786612072130

OCLC:

56891364