Literatures in English: African American Literature

Through 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

A 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: 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