Black Manhood in James Baldwin, Ernest J. Gaines, and August Wilson

Author: Keith Clark

Challenging the standard portrayals of Black men in African American literature

Paper – $22

978-0-252-07195-9

eBook – $19.95

978-0-252-05412-9

Publication Date

Paperback: 01/01/2004

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About the Book

From Frederick Douglass to the present, the preoccupation of Black writers with masculinity is a constant. In Black Manhood in James Baldwin, Ernest J. Gaines, and August Wilson, Keith Clark explores how three major Black writers contest classic portrayals of Black men in earlier literature, from slave narratives through the iconic novels of Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison. Clark examines short stories, novels, and plays by Baldwin, Gaines, and Wilson, arguing that since the 1950s the three have interrupted and radically dismantled the constricting literary depictions of Black men who equate selfhood with victimization, isolation, and patriarchy. Instead, they have reimagined Black men with an identity grounded in community, camaraderie, and intimacy.

A trove of original and startling insights, Black Manhood in James Baldwin, Ernest J. Gaines, and August Wilson offers new perspectives to both scholars and students in African American literature, gender studies, and narratology.

About the Author

Keith Clark is a professor of English and African American Studies at George Mason University. His books include Navigating the Fiction of Ernest J. Gaines: A Roadmap for Readers and The Radical Fiction of Ann Petry, winner of the College Language Association Creative Scholarship Award. He is the editor of Contemporary Black Men's Fiction and Drama.