African American Literature in Transition, 1960–1970: Volume 13
Black Art, Politics, and Aesthetics

Interrogates and explains 1960s writers and artists popular embrace of blackness as a source of power, as it confronts racism.

Shelly Eversley (Edited by)

9781108422932, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 November 2022

350 pages
23.6 x 15.8 x 2.1 cm, 0.6 kg

This volume considers innovations, transitions, and traditions in both familiar and unfamiliar texts and moments in 1960s African American literature and culture. It interrogates declarations of race, authenticity, personal and collective empowerment, political action, and aesthetics within this key decade. It is divided into three sections. The first section engages poetry and music as pivotal cultural form in 1960s literary transitions. The second section explains how literature, culture, and politics intersect to offer a blueprint for revolution within and beyond the United States. The final section addresses literary and cultural moments that are lesser-known in the canon of African American literature and culture. This book presents the 1960s as a unique commitment to art, when 'Black' became a political identity, one in which racial social justice became inseparable from aesthetic practice.

Introduction: Black art in transition Shelly Eversley
Part I. Poetry and Music: 1. The society of umbra and the coming of the Black aesthetic Keith D. Leonard
2. Robert Hayden, the Black arts movement, and the politics of aesthetic distance in the 1960s Derik Smith
3. Sonia Sanchez through the lens of Afro-Latinidad Patricia Herrera
4. Reconsidering 'the revolution in music' Eric Porter
Part II. Culture, and Politics: 5. The rights of Black love Dagmawi Woubshet
6. Albert Murray beyond plight and blight Paul C. Taylor
7. Espionage and the paths of Black radicalism GerShun Avilez
8. The necessary violence of Frantz Fanon and Malcolm X in global Black revolution Kelly M. Nims
Part III. Beyond the Canon: 9. Meanwhile, back on the home front Phillip Brian Harper
10. Between the March and Moynihan: reexamining Black female silence and subjectivity in 'Nothing but a man' Aneeka A. Henderson
11. Radio Free Dixie, Black arts radio, and African American women's activism Cheryl Higashida.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Black & Asian studies [JFSL3], Gay & Lesbian studies [JFSK], Feminism & feminist theory [JFFK], Society & culture: general [JF], Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: from c 1900 - [DSBH], Literary theory [DSA], Poetry [DC]