James Baldwin in Context

A collection of approaches to the work of an essential black American author who is just as relevant now as he was during his turbulent heyday.

D. Quentin Miller (Edited by)

9781108476720, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 1 August 2019

340 pages
23.4 x 15.8 x 2.2 cm, 0.62 kg

James Baldwin in Context provides a wide-ranging collection of approaches to the work of an essential black American author who is just as relevant now as he was during his turbulent heyday in the mid-twentieth century. The perspectives range from those who knew Baldwin personally, to scholars who have dedicated decades to studying him, to a new generation of scholars for whom Baldwin is nearly a historical figure. This collection complements the ever-growing body of scholarship on Baldwin by combining traditional inroads into his work, such as music and expatriation, with new approaches, such as intersectionality and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Part I. Life and Afterlife: 1. Harlem during and after the Renaissance Herb Boyd
2. American writers in Paris D. Quentin Miller
3. Greenwich village and emerging bohemianism Douglas Field
4. 1963: Baldwin's annus mirabilis Kevin Schultz
5. East meets West: Baldwin in Istanbul in the 1960s Magdalena Zaborowska
6. Baldwin as teacher David Leeming
7. A long way from home: Baldwin in Provence Jenny James
8. Decline of reputation in the 1980s Joseph Vogel
9. The critical Renaissance: 1999-present Leah Mirakhor
10. Biographies D. Quentin Miller
11. The matter of black lives: Baldwin today Justin Joyce
Part II. Social and Cultural Contexts: 12. Intersectionality Mark Reid
13. Baldwin and the early civil rights movement Lynn Orilla Scott
14. Segregation and the South Keith Mitchell
15. The assassinations: Medgar, Malcolm, Martin Zachary Manditch-Prottas
16. Gospel Leslie Wingard
17. 'The Whole Body of the Sound': the black musical basis of Baldwin's literary craft and social vision Ed Pavli?
18. Baldwin and psychoanalysis Mikko Tuhkanen
Part III. Literary Contexts: 19. The protest essay tradition Brian Norman
20. Baldwin and the black arts movement Melba Joyce Boyd
21. Baldwin and the rhetoric of confession D. Quentin Miller
22. The poetics of beautiful blackness: on Baldwin and négritude John Drabinski
23. Mid-century theatre Frank Leon Roberts
24. Sex and the twentieth century novel Pekka Kilpeläinen
25. Responding to Richard Wright Alice Mikal Craven
26. Baldwin's literary friendships Jenny James
27. Reviewers, critics, and cranks William Dow
28. Baldwin's collaborative dance Rashida Braggs
29. Baldwin's literary progeny Justin Joyce.

Subject Areas: Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers [DSK], Literary studies: from c 1900 - [DSBH]