The Columbia Guide to Contemporary African American Fiction (The Columbia Guides to Literature Since 1945)

From Ishmael Reed and Toni Morrison to Colson Whitehead and Terry McMillan, Darryl Dickson-Carr offers a definitive guide to contemporary African American literature. This volume-the only reference work devoted exclusively to African American fiction of the last thirty-five years-presents a wealth of factual and interpretive information about the major authors, texts, movements, and ideas that have shaped contemporary African American fiction. In more than 160 concise entries, arranged alphabetically, Dickson-Carr discusses the careers, works, and critical receptions of Alice Walker, Gloria Naylor, Jamaica Kincaid, Charles Johnson, John Edgar Wideman, Leon Forrest, as well as other prominent and lesser-known authors. Each entry presents ways of reading the author's works, identifies key themes and influences, assesses the writer's overarching significance, and includes sources for further research. Dickson-Carr addresses the influence of a variety of literary movements, critical theories, and publishers of African American work. Topics discussed include the Black Arts Movement, African American postmodernism, feminism, and the influence of hip-hop, the blues, and jazz on African American novelists. In tracing these developments, Dickson-Carr examines the multitude of ways authors have portrayed the diverse experiences of African Americans. __The Columbia Guide to Contemporary African American Fiction__ situates African American fiction in the social, political, and cultural contexts of post-Civil Rights era America: the drug epidemics of the 1980s and 1990s and the concomitant "war on drugs," the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement, the struggle for gay rights, feminism, the rise of HIV/AIDS, and racism's continuing effects on African American communities. Dickson-Carr also discusses the debates and controversies regarding the role of literature in African American life. The volume concludes with an extensive annotated bibliography of African American fiction and criticism. In Both The Literal And Metaphorical Senses, It Seemed As If 1970s America Was Running Out Of Gas. The Decade Not Only Witnessed Long Lines At Gas Stations But A Citizenry That Had Grown Weary And Disillusioned. High Unemployment, Runaway Inflation, And The Energy Crisis, Caused In Part By U.s. Dependence On Arab Oil, Characterized An Increasingly Bleak Economic Situation. As Edward D. Berkowitz Demonstrates, The End Of The Postwar Economic Boom, Watergate, And Defeat In Vietnam Led To An Unraveling Of The National Consensus. During The Decade, Ideas About The United States, How It Should Be Governed, And How Its Economy Should Be Managed Changed Dramatically. Berkowitz Argues That The Postwar Faith In Sweeping Social Programs And A Global U.s. Mission Was Replaced By A More Skeptical Attitude About Government's Ability To Positively Affect Society. From Woody Allen To Watergate, From The Decline Of The Steel Industry To The Rise Of Bill Gates, And From Saturday Night Fever To The Sunday Morning Fervor Of Evangelical Preachers, Berkowitz Captures The History, Tone, And Spirit Of The Seventies. He Explores The Decade's Major Political Events And Movements, Including The Rise And Fall Of Détente, Congressional Reform, Changes In Healthcare Policies, And The Hostage Crisis In Iran. The Seventies Also Gave Birth To Several Social Movements And The Rights Revolution, In Which Women, Gays And Lesbians, And People With Disabilities All Successfully Fought For Greater Legal And Social Recognition. At The Same Time, Reaction To These Social Movements As Well As The Issue Of Abortion Introduced A New Facet Into American Political Life-the Rise Of Powerful, Politically Conservative Religious Organizations And Activists. Berkowitz Also Considers Important Shifts In American Popular Culture, Recounting The Creative Renaissance In American Film As Well As The Birth Of The Hollywood Blockbuster. He Discusses How Television Programs Such As All In The Family And Charlie's Angels Offered Americans Both A Reflection Of And An Escape From The Problems Gripping The Country. "From Ishamel Reed and Toni Morrison to Colson Whitehead and Terry McMillan, Darryl Dickson-Carr offers a definitive guide to contemporary African American literature. This volume - the only reference work devoted exclusively to African American fiction of the last thirty-five years - presents a wealth of factual and interpretive information about the major authors, texts, movements, and ideas that have shaped contemporary African American fiction. In more than 160 concise entries, arranged alphabetically, Dickson-Carr discusses the careers, works, and critical receptions of Alice Walker, Gloria Naylor, Jamaica Kincaid, Charles Johnson, John Edgar Wideman, and Leon Forrest, as well as other prominent and lesser-known authors. Each entry presents ways of reading the author's works, identifies key themes and influences, assesses the writer's overarching significance, and includes sources for further research." "Dickson-Carr addresses the influence of a variety of literary movements, critical theories, and publishers of African American work. Topics discussed include the Black Arts Movement, African American postmodernism, feminism, and the influence of hip-hop, the blues, and jazz on African American novelists. The volume concludes with an extensive annotated bibliography of African American fiction and criticism."--Jacket. Contents Preface Acknowledgments Overview A–Z Guide to Contemporary African American Fiction A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Selected Bibliography Index