In all of her fiction, Toni Morrison (February 18, 1931-) explores the conflict between society and the individual. She shows how the individual who defies social pressures can forge a self by drawing on the resources of the natural world,… Read More ›
Before it became fashionable, Ernest J. Gaines (January 15, 1933-) was one southern black writer who wrote about his native area. Although he has lived much of his life in California, he has never been able to write adequately about… Read More ›
Octavia E. Butler presented a version of humanity as a congenitally flawed species, possibly doomed to destroy itself because it is both intelligent and hierarchical. In this sense, her work does not follow the lead of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series… Read More ›
Arna Bontemps (1902 – 1973) was a prolific author, editor and a noted member of the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote or cowrote many children’s books, biographies, and histories. He edited or coedited more than a dozen works, including African American… Read More ›
Toni Cade Bambara (1939 – 1995) is best known for her short stories, which appear frequently in anthologies. She has also received recognition as a novelist, essayist, journalist, editor, and screenwriter, as well as a social activist and community leader…. Read More ›
Finding common ground between theory and the ‘founding condition of Afro-American intellectual history’, Houston A. Baker, Jr argues that both seek explanations at a ‘metalevel’. Baker comes to this conclusion because of the way in which his intellectual project is… Read More ›
African literature, an area where the relationship of the artist with the land is absolutely recognised and understood, covers a huge range of languages, cultures and colonial contexts. Literature in the African continent has its basis mainly in the traditions… Read More ›
