African American Literature: An Encyclopedia for Students

✍ Scribed by Hans Ostrom (editor), John Macey (editor)

• Publisher: Greenwood
• Year: 2019
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 454
• Edition: Student
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This essential volume provides an overview of and introduction to African American writers and literary periods from their beginnings through the 21st century.

This compact encyclopedia, aimed at students, selects the most important authors, literary movements, and key topics for them to know.

Entries cover the most influential and highly regarded African American writers, including novelists, playwrights, poets, and nonfiction writers. The book covers key periods of African American literature―such as the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, and the Civil Rights Era―and touches on the influence of the vernacular, including blues and hip hop.

The volume provides historical context for critical viewpoints including feminism, social class, and racial politics. Entries are organized A to Z and provide biographies that focus on the contributions of key literary figures as well as overviews, background information, and definitions for key subjects.

• Provides an essential introduction to African American writers and topics, from the beginning of the 20th century into the 21st
• Covers the major authors and key topics in African American literature
• Gives students an accessible and approachable overview of African American literature

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Introduction
Chronology
A–Z ENTRIES
Angelou, Maya (1928–2014)
Autobiography
Baldwin, James (1924–1987)
Baraka, Amiri (1934–2014)
Black Arts Movement (1960–1970)
Blues Poetry
Bontemps, Arna (1902–1973)
Brooks, Gwendolyn (1917–2000)
Butler, Octavia E. (1947–2006)
Chesnutt, Charles Waddell (1858–1932)
Children’s Literature
Clifton, Lucille (1936–2010)
Coates, Ta-Nehisi (1975–)
Cooper, Anna Julia Haywood(1858/1859–1964)
Craft, William (1824–1900) and Ellen Smith Craft (1826–1891)
Crafts, Hannah (1830?–?)
Crime and Mystery Fiction
Cullen, Countee (1903–1946)
Danticat, Edwidge (born 1969)
Delany, Martin R. (1812–1885)
Delany, Samuel R. (1942–)
Dialect Poetry
Douglass, Frederick (1818–1895)
Dove, Rita (1952–)
Drama
Du Bois, W.E.B. (1868–1963)
Dunbar, Paul Laurence (1872–1906)
Elaw, Zilpha (ca. 1790–1873)
Ellison, Ralph (1914–1994)
Epic Poetry/The Long Poem
Equiano, Olaudah (1745–1797)
Essay
E-Zines, E-News, E-Journals, and E-Collections
Fauset, Jessie Redmon (1882–1961)
Feminism/Black Feminism
Fisher, Rudolph John Chauncey(1897–1934)
Folklore
Formal Verse
Free Verse
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. (1950–)
Gay, Roxane (1974–)
Gay Literature
Giovanni, Nikki (1943–)
Graphic Novels
Grimké, Angelina Weld (1880–1958)
Hansberry, Lorraine (1930–1965)
Harlem Renaissance (ca. 1920–1932)
Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins(1825–1911)
Hayden, Robert (1913–1980)
Hayes, Terrance (1971–)
Hemphill, Essex (1957–1995)
Hip-Hop
Horror Fiction
Hughes, Langston (1901–1967)
Humor
Hurston, Zora Neale (1891–1960)
Jacobs, Harriet Ann (1813–1897)
Jazz in Literature
Johnson, Georgia Douglas (1886–1966)
Johnson, James Weldon (1871–1938)
Jones, Gayl (1949–)
Jordan, June (1936–2002)
King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929–1968)
Knight, Etheridge (1931–1991)
Komunyakaa, Yusef (1947–)
Larsen, Nella (1891–1964)
Lesbian Literature
Lorde, Audre (1934–1992)
Lyric Poetry
Madhubuti, Haki R. (Don Luther Lee)(1942–)
Major, Clarence (1936–)
Malcolm X (1925–1965)
McKay, Claude (1889–1948)
Modernism (ca. 1890–1940)
Morrison, Toni (1931–2019)
Naylor, Gloria (1950–2016)
Novel
Nugent, Richard Bruce (1906–1987)
Parks, Suzan-Lori (1963–)
Performance Poetry
Perkins-Valdez, Dolen (1973–)
Petry, Ann Lane (1908–1997)
Poetics
Postmodernism
Poststructuralism
Prison Literature
Protest Literature
Rap
Realism
Reed, Ishmael (1938–)
Research Resources: Electronic Works
Research Sources: Reference Works
Rodgers, Carolyn Marie (1945–2010)
Romance Novel
Sanchez, Sonia (1934–)
Satire
Schuyler, George Samuel (1895–1977)
Shange, Ntozake (1948–2018)
Short Fiction
Simms, Renee Elizabeth (1966–)
Slave Narrative
Smith, Anna Deavere (1950–)
Smith, Venture (1728/1729–1805)
Spirituals
Terry [Prince], Lucy (ca. 1730–1821)
Tolson, Melvin B. (1898–1966)
Toomer, Jean (1894–1967)
Trickster
Troupe, Quincy Thomas, Jr. (1943–)
Truth, Sojourner (1797–1883)
Tubman, Harriet Ross (ca. 1820–1913)
Vernacular
Walker, Alice (1944–)
Walrond, Eric Derwent (1898–1966)
Washington, Booker T. (1856–1915)
West, Cornel (1953–)
West, Dorothy (1907–1998)
Wheatley, Phillis (ca. 1753–1784)
Wideman, John Edgar (1941–)
Wilson, August (1945–2005)
Wilson, Harriet E. (1825–1900)
Wright, Richard (1908–1960)
General Bibliography and Listof Organizations, Museums,and Research Centers
About the Editors and Contributors
Index