Literatures in English: African American Literature
Reference Resources
- Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new window5 simultaneous users. Contains a comprehensive collection of scholarship focused on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture. Features over 7,500 articles from Oxford's reference works, approximately 100 primary sources with specially written commentaries, over 1,000 images, over 100 maps, over 200 charts and tables, timelines to guide researchers through the history of African Americans and over 6,000 biographies.
A Companion to African American Literature by ISBN: 9781405188623Publication Date: 2010-05-10Through a series of essays that explore the forms, themes, genres, historical contexts, major authors, and latest critical approaches, A Companion to African American Literature presents a comprehensive chronological overview of African American literature from the eighteenth century to the modern day Examines African American literature from its earliest origins, through the rise of antislavery literature in the decades leading into the Civil War, to the modern development of contemporary African American cultural media, literary aesthetics, and political ideologies Addresses the latest critical and scholarly approaches to African American literature Features essays by leading established literary scholars as well as newer voices- ISBN: 9780814743874
A History of the African American Novel by
ISBN: 9781107448773Publication Date: 2017-07-28A History of the African American Novel offers an in-depth overview of the development of the novel and its major genres. In the first part of this book, Valerie Babb examines the evolution of the novel from the 1850s to the present, showing how the concept of black identity has transformed along with the art form. The second part of this History explores the prominent genres of African American novels, such as neoslave narratives, detective fiction, and speculative fiction, and considers how each one reflects changing understandings of blackness. This book builds on other literary histories by including early black print culture, African American graphic novels, pulp fiction, and the history of adaptation of black novels to film. By placing novels in conversation with other documents - early black newspapers and magazines, film, and authorial correspondence - A History of the African American Novel brings many voices to the table to broaden interpretations of the novel's development.
Black Literature Criticism by ISBN: 9781414431741Publication Date: 2008-06-01Black Literature Criticism: Classic and Emerging Authors since 1950 introduces students and other researchers to Black Literature's leading figures. Approximately one third of the set updates classic black authors originally covered in Black Literature Criticism, 1st Edition; the other two thirds of the set treat new and emerging authors not covered before. Overlap between this set and the original Black Literature Criticism is minimal, and all critical essays are new. Readers will find a wealth of background information as well as robust full-text criticism for each author, including biographical sketches, critical reception of works, explanatory notes and further readings
Literary Texts
- 20th Century African-American Poetry This link opens in a new windowA full-text database containing poems from books of poetry by African American poets published up through 1900.
- African-American Poetry 1760-1900 This link opens in a new windowThe African-American Poetry is a full-text database containing 3,000 poems from about n books of poetry by African American poets published up through 1900.
- Black Women Writers This link opens in a new windowFiction, poetry, and essays about Black Women Writers from Africa and the African Diaspora. Users may encounter content in this database the library has not purchased.
- Black Drama: Second Edition This link opens in a new windowAfrican, African American, and Diaspora, 1850 to present. Contains approximately 1,462 plays by 233 playwrights, together with detailed, fielded information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more.
- Black Short Fiction and Folklore This link opens in a new windowA full-text collection of stories from Africa and the African Diaspora. Contains stories and folk tales published in more than 15 countries from the mid-1900s to the present, including previously uncollected works and unpublished manuscripts by many authors, as well as complete runs of selected literary magazines that feature short stories. Users may encounter content in this database the library has not purchased.
African American Historical Newspaper and Periodical Databases
- African American Newspapers 1827-1998 (Readex)Readex's digital collection of local African American newspapers across the United States chronicling life, thought and culture. Miami has Series 1 (1827-1998) and 2 (1835-1956) from selected states. This searchable database contains articles from more than 350 African American newspapers.
- Black Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)ProQuest's Black Historical Newspapers collections provides access to many of the most influential African American Newspapers, including the following (which can be searched together or individually using the above link): The Chicago Defender, The Cleveland Call and Post, The New Amsterdam News, and the Baltimore Afro-American.
- African American Periodicals 1825-1995 (Readex)Features more than 170 wide-ranging periodicals by and about African Americans. Published in 26 states, the publications include academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations bulletins, annual reports and other genres.
Multi-subject African American history databases
- Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records This link opens in a new windowPrimary source government documents related to the political side of the freedom movement, the role of civil rights organizations in pushing for civil rights legislation, and the interaction between African Americans and the federal government in the 20th century.
- Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new windowCovers non-fiction published works of leading African Americans. full-texts of books, essays, articles, speeches, and interviews written by leaders within the black community. Users may encounter content in this database the library has not purchased.
Digital Projects
- Visualizing EmancipationVisualizing Emancipation is a map of slavery’s end during the American Civil War. It finds patterns in the collapse of southern slavery, mapping the interactions between federal policies, armies in the field, and the actions of enslaved men and women on countless farms and city blocks. It encourages scholars, students, and the public to examine the wartime end of slavery in place, allowing a rigorously geographic perspective on emancipation in the United States.
- The Colored Conventions ProjectThe Colored Conventions Project (CCP) is a scholarly and community research project dedicated to bringing the seven decades-long history of nineteenth-century Black organizing to digital life. Mirroring the collective nature of the nineteenth-century Colored Conventions, CCP uses innovative, inclusive models and partnerships to locate, transcribe, and archive the documentary record related to this nearly forgotten history.
- Black QuotidianBlack Quotidian explores everyday lives of African Americans in the twentieth century. Drawing on an archive of digitized African-American newspapers, Matthew F. Delmont guides readers through a wealth of primary resources that reveal how the Black press popularized African-American history and valued the lives of both famous and ordinary Black people.