African American Autobiographers: A Sourcebook

by Emmanuel S. Nelson

Overview

Chronicling the autobiographical tradition in African American literature from the 18th century to the present, this volume features 66 authors from Maya Angelou to Malcolm X.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313011184
Publisher:	ABC-CLIO, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/30/2002
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	718 KB

About the Author

EMMANUEL S. NELSON is Professor of English at State University of New York College at Cortland. Author of more than 40 scholarly articles on various international literatures in English, he has edited numerous books, including Contemporary African American Novelists (1999), African American Authors, 1745-1945 (2000), and Asian American Novelists (2000), all available from Greenwood Press.

Table of Contents

Preface
Elizabeth Laura Adams by Heather Rellihan
Hilton Als by Jacqueline C. Jones
Maya Angelou by Eileen O. Jaquin
James Baldwin by Barbara L. J. Griffin
Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) by Tarshia L. Stanley
Henry Walton Bibb by Nanette Morton
Gwendolyn Brooks by Emmanuel S. Nelson
Claude Brown by Emmanuel S. Nelson
William Wells Brown by Linda M. Carter
Leroy Eldridge Cleaver by David L. Dudley
Lucille Clifton by Edward Whitley
Angela Yvonne Davis by Emmanuel S. Nelson
Lucy A. Delaney by Loretta G. Woodard
Samuel R. Delany by Karl L. Stenger
Toi Derricotte by Loretta G. Woodard
Frederick Douglas by Harish Chander
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois by David L. Dudley
Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson by Gwendolyn S. Jones
Zilpha Elaw by Adenike Marie Davidson
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington by Joyce Russell-Robinson
Julia A. J. Foote by Maxine Sample
Patrice Gaines by Kelley A. Squazzo
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. by Emmanuel S. Nelson
Nikki Giovanni by Kathlene McDonald
Marita Golden by Emmanuel S. Nelson
Richard "Dick" Claxton Gregory by Nikolas Huot
Sutton Elbert Griggs by Harish Chander
James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw by Terry Novak
Juanita Harrison by Kelley A. Squazzo
Josiah Henson by Rennie Simson
Chester Himes by Robin Jane Lucy
Bell Hooks by Michael L. Cobb
Langston Hughes by Linda M. Carter
Zora Neale Hurston by Maxine Sample
Elizabeth Keckley by Adenike Marie Davidson
Jamaica Kincaid by Suzanne Hotte Massa
Jerena Lee by Maxine Sample
Audre Geraldine Lorde by Chandra Tyler Mountain
Malcolm X by Emmanuel S. Nelson
John Marrant by James L. Hill
James McBride by Harmony Nicole Miller
Nathan J. McCall by Susan Evans Pond
Janet McDonald by Heather Rellihan
Claude McKay by Barbara L. J. Griffen
Anne Moody by Emmanuel S. Nelson
Pauli Murray by Leela Kapai
Solomon Northup by Elizabeth Marsden
Gwendolyn M. Parker by Loretta G. Woodard
Eliza C. Potter by Nikolas Huot
Nancy Gardner Prince by Yolanda Williams Page
J. Saunders Redding by Geetha Ravi
Sarah Rice by Terry Novak
Eslanda Goode Robinson by Bettye J. Williams
George Samuel Schuyler by Emmanuel S. Nelson
Mary Seacole by Loretta G. Woodard
Brent Staples by Stacey L. Donohue
Maria W. Stewart by Verner D. Mitchell
Sojourbaner Truth by Christine M. Lemchak
Nat Turbaner by Joyce Russell-Robinson
Gloria Wade-Gayles by James L. Hill
Alice Walker by Paula C. Barnes
Booker Taliaferro Washington by David L. Dudley
Ida B. Wells-Barnett by Lynn Domina
John Edgar Wideman by Chris Roark
Harriet E. Wilson by Emma Waters Dawson
Richard Wright by H. Nigel Thomas
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

In this unique reference tool, Nelson (English, SUNY at Cortland), the author or editor of numerous scholarly articles and books (e.g., Contemporary African American Novelists), has solicited contributions from mostly published literary scholars on representative African American authors whose works include autobiography or autobiographical material. The authors profiled, who date from the 18th century to the present, include such literary figures as Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston as well as such nonliterary figures as Duke Ellington, Dick Gregory, and Frederick Douglass. The autobiographies range from captivity narratives and slave narratives to spiritual autobiographies and modern works that reveal the "fictionality of all constructed selves." Each of the 66 alphabetically arranged entries offers up-to-date biographical, critical, and bibliographical information, but the scope varies quite a bit from one entry to the next. The biographical sketches, for example, run from a single paragraph to six or seven pages in length. Although this is a well-structured compilation, it would have had more reference value if more authors had been included, even if that had meant shorter entries. The book simply cries out for a revised second edition. Suitable for larger academic and public libraries. Peter Dollard, Alma Coll., MI Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Framing the cultural conflict between US blacks and whites as partly a clash between orality and literacy, Nelson (English, State U. of New York, Cortland) explains that autobiographical narrative surfaced as the primary genre of African Americans when black literacy emerged. This volume provides an introduction to the diversity of writing in this tradition from the mid-18th century to the late 1990s. The 67 voices represented range alphabetically from Elizabeth Laura Adams to Richard Wright. Entries include the author's biography, autobiographical works and themes, and critical reception; and a bibliography of works and studies. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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