Black Male Fiction and the Legacy of Caliban / James W. Coleman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Coleman, James W. (James Wilmouth), 1946-2019.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Men in literature.

Black people in literature.

Caliban (Fictitious character from Shakespeare).

Caliban.

African American men in literature.

African American men--Intellectual life.

African American men.

Postmodernism (Literature)--United States.

Postmodernism (Literature).

American fiction--20th century--History and criticism.

American fiction.

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

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

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Influence.

Shakespeare, William.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (204 p.)

Place of Publication:

Lexington, Kentucky : The University Press of Kentucky, 2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

With The Tempest's Caliban, Shakespeare created an archetype in the modern era depicting black men as slaves and savages who threaten civilization. As contemporary black male fiction writers have tried to free their subjects and themselves from this legacy to tell a story of liberation, they often unconsciously retell the story, making their heroes into modern-day Calibans.Coleman analyzes the modern and postmodern novels of John Edgar Wideman, Clarence Major, Charles Johnson, William Melvin Kelley, Trey Ellis, David Bradley, and Wesley Brown. He traces the Caliban legacy to early literary in

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: Introduction

Defining Calibanic Discourse

in the Black Male Novel and Black Male Culture 1

1

The Conscious and Unconscious Dimensions

of Calibanic Discourse Thematized

in Philadelphia Fire 18

2

The Thematized Black Voice

in John Edgar Wideman's

The Cattle Killing and Reuben 37

3

Clarence Major's Quest to Define

and Liberate the Self and the Black Male Writer 59

4

Charles Johnson's Response

to "Caliban's Dilemma" 81

5

Calibanic Discourse in Postmodern

and Non-Postmodern Black Male Texts 100

6

Ralph Ellison and the Literary Background

of Contemporary Black Male Postmodern Writers 129

Conclusion

The "Special Edge" Tension

Between the Conscious and Unconscious

in the Contemporary Black Male Postmodern Novel 148.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [180]-183) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780813158686

0813158680

9780813170770

081317077X

OCLC:

65339424