DOC Great Slave Narratives by From Beacon Press in History

Review

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. ARNA BONTEMPS; NOVELIST; LITERARY HISTORIAN; CELEBRATES; EXPLICATES; THE SLAVE NARRATIVEBy Howard M. RomaineArna Bontemps; a writer; librarian; archivist of African-American literature; and long-time distinguished faculty member and librarian at FIsk University Nashville; has placed the Slave Narrative in its rightful place with his intricately worded and argued introduction to narratives by Olaudah Equino; Gustavus Vassa; and James W. C. Pennington; placing the national and international impact of the slave narrative from his own intense reaction to UP FROM SLAVERY; by Booker T. Washington; as a child in Los Angeles; thru Washington; DuBois; and later novelists and autobiographers; like James Baldwin; Ellison and Wright. Starting with the literary context of the very earliest writings of poetry by Phillis Wheatley; early published sermons by Jupiter Hammond; he lifts up and contextualizes the narratives thru the ebb and flow of African-American history up to the civil war; and their gradual repression later; as the veil of segregation and renewed racism settled over the American consensus; with the 'cowboy story' myth; replacing the Narrative of Escape to Freedom; as the basic American Narrative. A Basic; Essential; Succinct and Eloquent introduction to the evolution of America's central literary narrative; if one accepts Bontemps argument; as I do; which Beacon should be congratulated for keeping in print. Check it out!! Howard M. Romaine; Nashville; TN