Literature of the Reconstruction 1865-1919

1. Literature of the Reconstruction 1865-1919 By the climax of this era, Frederick Douglass had died and Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois became the two prominent Af. Am. Figures w varying ideals for uplifting the “Negro” race.

2. Literature of the Reconstruction 1865-1919 From 1865 well into the 20th century, Af. Am. authors continued to address the issues of slavery and freedom, color and racial discrimination. Post-bellum writers retold the story of slavery by challenging the myth of black passivity w/ stories highlighting their ancestors’ heroism and courage.

3. Booker T. Washington 1856 - 1932 Up from Slavery (1901) Themes: African American education and intelligence Poverty and economic disability Migration for self-advancement Labor in bondage, labor in despair Black economic ambition Black citizenship Racial cooperation and coalition

4. Booker T. Washington 1856 - 1932 Up From Slavery(1901) Characteristics: Author, educator, editor, and orator Reportorial, straightforward voice Trickster narrator, African American rhetorical masking

5. Booker T. Washington 1856 - 1932 Up From Slavery(1901) Parable of the distressed vessel on Amazon River…”Water! Water!...We are thirsty! …Cast down your bucket where you are.” Dual-fold message of metaphor to both “Negro” and “white southerner” “Fingers of the hand” metaphor, and BTW’s views on the way negro masses would progress economically and financially. Philosophy on social responsibility vs. social equality

6. W.E.B. DuBois Souls of Black Folk Themes: Power, beauty, and significance of black history, culture, art forms, and folk ways International movements of black resistance to oppression Eradication of bigotry, racial subjugation, all forms of inequality Communal experience of “life with the Veil” African American self-perception as “double-consciousness” African America’s “Talented Tenth” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is important to read Souls as an essay collection that explores African American life and culture via history, sociology, religion, economics, politics, and music. The work is a intersection of literary elements with characteristics from other disciplines such as sociology and education.

7. W.E.B. DuBois Souls of Black Folk Characteristics: African American vernacular English Formal, contemplative, controlled nonfiction prose Poetry and fiction are passionate Unflinching critique of white (economic) supremacy

8. Genres and authors of the period PoetryPeriodical Literature • Grimke’ Charles Chestnutt • W.E.B. DuBois  Hopkins • Corrothers  W.E.B. DuBois • J.W. Johnson Weldon Johnson • Fenton Johnson Paul L. Dunbar Oration • Booker T. Washington • Cooper Religious/Political Treatise • Cooper Weldon Johnson • Wells-Barnett  Paul L. Dunbar • W.E.B. DuBois Literature of the Reconstruction 1865 - 1919

9. Reconstruction (1865-1919) Authors by primary Genre Prose Narrative / Autobiography / Slave Narrative • Grimke‘ • Booker T. Washington • Charles Chestnutt • Cooper • W.E.B. DuBois Short Fiction • Charles Chestnutt (Wife of my Youth; Goophered Grapevine…) • Hopkins • Alice Dunbar Nelson (wife of Paul L. Dunbar) The Novel • James Weldon Johnson (Auto. Of Ex-Colored Man) • Ch. Chestnutt (Marrow of Tradition) Literature of the Reconstruction 1865 - 1919

10. Reconstruction (1865-1919) Questions to consider…from Introduction • According to the literature, what effective rhetorical strategies did post-Reconstruction Af. Am. Writers devise to protest demeaning and dismissive racial attitudes? • What were black authors’ literary responses to the rampant lynching and legalized racial discrimination so pervasive during the sociopolitical “nadir” of Af. Am. History? • Where were most of the publishing houses; who owned them; and who determined what was published, where, and how it was marketed? That is, what was the impact the publishing industry on the development and dissemination of Af. Am. Literature c. 1900? Literature of the Reconstruction 1865 - 1919

11. Reconstruction (1865-1919) Questions to consider…cont’d • What were the dominant literary forms, plots, and character types deployed by late 19th century Af. Am. Writers? Granted that these choices were not coincidental but deliberate, on what factors phenomena do these literary choices seem based? • If the most dominant rhetorical forms in Af. Am. Literature are signifying and masking, find examples of them and examine how they are deployed in African Am. Writings of the Reconstruction and afterward. • Return to the vernacular tradition, trace the development of key figures from the vernacular tradition in the Reconstruction literature. i.e. where is the figure of the signifying monkey in Charles W. Chestnutt’s short fiction? Can folk sermons be located in Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poetry? In James Weldon Johnson’s works? In other writers from this period? Literature of the Reconstruction 1865 - 1919