ABSTRACT
The twentieth century American literary scene is characterized by the
emergence of black writers who are concerned with creating what is
called "Black Consciousness". This concept became a form of literary
expression associated with the Afro-American movement whose concern was
for the discovery of the meaning of black man''s experience. Black,
consciousness has to do with the revolutionary consciousness which
occupies most Afro-American writing. This concept places emphasis on the
Afro-American search for self-esteem in a hostile social environment
and the search for a language to affirm a "black selfhood" as well as
express the richness of an oral culture. These elements are examined in
Richard Wright''s Native Son and Ralph Ellison''s Invisible Man. These
works marked a high point in the Black-American literary tradition. Both
novels are protests against the hatred, injustices and racism in the
America society.
The racial prejudices and the American racial dilemma inform the
choice of themes by these authors. Wright''s novel represents what has
been described as protest to black fiction. Wright is a central figure
in Afro-American literature. Ellison''s novel is indebted to Native
Son for certain themes i.e. the social invisibility of black Americans
and the blindness of the whites to their individuality.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Afro-American tradition
Racial freedom in the face of white oppression and injustice is a
social necessity of black life. The Afro-American novelist as a
spokesman for his people places his art at the disposal of the course of
freedom. These writers possess a sense of commitment to racial justice
and racial freedom. The Afro-American literature of the last couple of
decades witnessed remarkable transformations. The artistic ambition of
the black writers in America. Thus, history provides and impetus for
current black writing. The efforts to define the Afro-American
experience have influenced the choice of theme and the literary
traditions of Afro-American literature. It then follows that the basic
themes and literature traditions of Afro-American writing is associated
with black experience.
The dominant themes of Afro-American literature have been identified
as the search for freedom. The theme has been explored by several
Afro-American authors who often believe they have a commitment towards
the liberation of the generality of the Afro-American people. This issue
is explored in such novels as Ellison''s Invisible Man whose protagonist
embarked on a journey to achieve self-knowledge in order to gain his
freedom. This trend is repeated in other Afro-American novels like Jean
Toomer''s Cane, Zora Neale Hurston''s Their Eyes Were Watching God,
Richard Wright''s Native Son, James Baldwin''s Go Tell It On The
Mountain and Toni Morrison''s Sula. The protagonists of all these novels
have one thing in common; they are all involved in the struggle to
achieve freedom.
The literary traditions of the twentieth century Afro-American
literature are committed to the task of delving into the complexity of
the Afro-American experience. The diverse kinds of black experience
referred to here are characterized by racial prejudice and oppression as
well as their political struggle for freedom. The importance of black
literature in America may be considered from the point of view of the
fact that most literary works by Afro-Americans address such issues as
the question of personal identity and the meaning of freedom as well as
the humanity of the blacks. The benefit of addressing issues of this
nature as that it assists in the process of a deeper understanding and
self-discovery for the blacks and the nation at large.
The much talked about Afro-American literary tradition is a complex
term. There is no gainsaying that certain themes and tropes recur in
Afro-American fiction. The Afro-American writers like other writers have
literary antecedents. Over the years, Afro-American fiction has changed
the artistic achievements if the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s
remains a crucial factor in Afro-American literature.
More so, when it has been argued that the 1980s is the continuation
of the Harlem Renaissance and that his Renaissance of the 1920s and the
slave narratives of the nineteenth century are at the heart of the 1980s
renaissance in black letters. The Afro-American literary tradition may
be identified in terms of the peculiarities of literary styles, themes,
myth, folk culture as well as the structures. A definition the
Afro-American tradition is a complex issue. Louis Gates Jr. suggests
that "The basis of a tradition must be a shared pattern of language
use. The Afro-American literary tradition may be considered in terms
of the existence of rhetorical tropes in black literature. The concept
of an Afro-American tradition offers a framework for viewing the works
of contemporary Afro-American writers in relation to the intertextuality
of various texts. There is no gainsaying that several texts that belong
the Afro-American canon are related to other black texts. Hence, we
find such texts as Ralph Ellison''sInvisible Man, Richard Wright''s Native
Son, Jean Toomer''s Cane, Zora Neale Hurston''s Their Eyes Were Watching
God, and a host of others, related to one another in terms of substance
and contents. This relationship may be identified in terms of race, the
author''s choice of theme as well as the existence of black consciousness
and identify as suggested by these authors'' use of what has been
described as the language of blackness as represented in the rhetorical
strategies used by these authors in rendering the much talked about
black experience.
The language ''used by the Afro-American writer has been described as
that which is created, refined and tested by centuries of racial
oppression and racial assertion. The language used reflects the reality
of the Afro-American history. This language may equally be regarded as a
testimony to the Afro-American experience of slavery and racial
oppression the rhetorical skill of the American blacks offers stylistic
resources to ''the black writers. The Afro-American writer is given to
the use of slave narratives, black oral tradition and folklore as a
representation of their blackness and experience. The Afro-American
narratives strategies invariably become the tool with which the black
writers achieve a black consciousness.
1.2 Black consciousness and the Afro-American writer
Black consciousness in Afro-American literature has formed the basis
of what may be regarded as a theory of Afro-American literature.
Consciousness of blackness has become a sort of revolutionary
consciousness which has occupied most Afro- American writing. Charles
T. Davis (1981) is of the opinion that:
Awareness of being black is the most powerful and most fertile single
inspiration for most black writers in America. It is ironic that
blackness so long regarded as a handicap - socially and culturally,
should be an artistic strength 2.
Blackness has been identified as the recurring and controlling
trope of all Afro-American literary tradition. Blackness has become some
kind of creative element in Afro-American literature. This is evident
in the choice of theme and language. The importance of the recognition
of blackness in Afro-American literature has to a large extent
influenced the artistic endeavor of most black writers. It has been
pointed out that:
Consciousness of blackness has brought an especial intensity to the
statement of the Afro-Americans as in Ralph Ellison''s Invisible Man; a
distinction and beauty of language evident in the poems of Langston
Hughes; an unusual ways of rendering scenes as observed in the work of
Jean roomer3.
What is suggested here points to the fact that, the definition of
freedom and the search for an identity in Ellison''s invisible man,
Langston Hughes'' use of language and racy colloquial in his poems as
well as Jean Toomer''s style of writing result (rom these authors''
awareness of their blackness. Perhaps one may equally suggest that since
blackness is woven into the texture of the black writer''s art, the
aesthetics of the Afro-American art is expected to reflect these
authors'' acceptance of their blackness, black pride and black
solidarity. All of these are related to the objectives of the Black
Power Movement of the 1960s which has affinity with Black Consciousness
Movement. Most black writers of this period wrote for black people, what
they often chose as their subject matter revolves around their
blackness. Thus, their blackness is regarded as an absolute theme and
necessity.
Folklore, jazz and blue songs served as major source of inspiration
for most black authors . The identification of blackness as a priority
therefore distinguishes black writers in America. This is reiterated in
the words of Charles T. Davis:
For nearly all black writers in America, that sense of difference was
the recognition of blackness. But for most, blackness was the spur, the
barb or the spirit or pain that moved artist to achieve distinction.4
It is important to acknowledge the role and the achievements of the
proponents of the, Black Consciousness Movement. W.E.B. Du Bis was the
leader of the twentieth century political and aesthetic thought. He
devoted himself to the task of uplifting the black race through
literature. He believed that the black writer has a duty not only to
uplift his race but also to elevate the rest of the world''s opinion
about the generality of the black man. He abhorred and discredited
negative portrayal of blacks in white American literature. As the
editor-in-chief ofThe Crisis: a journal Of the National Association for
the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP). He wrote various articles
through which he projected his idea on such issues as the concept of
racial pride which became a forceful concept in discussions and works by
black writers.
The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s is crucial to this discourse on
contemporary Afro-American writing in order to show how the past
prefigured the present. The 1920s was a period when Afro-American art
and culture flourished. The Afro-American literature was viewed by many
intellectuals as a means for a direct confrontation of white American
racist practices and its effects on Afro.
The period witnessed the production of numerous texts of art by
Afro-American writers who had moved to the Harlem City enmasse in an
attempt to escape from the lynching and segregation which was prevalent
in the South. The result of this settlement was the creation of what has
been described as a progressive international black consciousness and
culture"5 In essence, there was Afro-American creation of a collective
consciousness of black identity. The writers of the Harlem Renaissance
wrote to define the culture and exhibit a sense of pride in their racial
heritage.
Charles S. Johnson was equally instrumental to the course of the
Harlem Renaissance. His achievement is summarized in the words of
Langston Hughes as someone who "did more to encourage and develop Negro
writers during the 1920s than anyone else in America.6
Alain Locke was one of the ''godfathers" of the New Negro Renaissance.
He was the one who coined the phrase "New Negro". He is submission on
the question of race pride is summarized in his essay The New
Negro (1925) as follows:
The day of aunties, uncles and mammies is equally gone. Uncle Tom and
Sambo have passed on .... .in the very process of being transformed.7
In this essay, Locke registers his misgiving with the unjust and
negative stereotypes of blacks in American literature. He equally
announced the beginning of a new development in Afro-American
literature, i.e. literature which is concerned with blacks who are proud
of their race. He actually suggests that black writers like Langston
Hughes, Claude Mckay and other young writers of the Harlem Renaissance
should use black folklore as the source of their inspiration. The
publication of Jean Toomer''s Cane (1923) is also an important
development in Afro-American literature. This book was regarded as "the
first full length book by a black writer to come out of the
period".8 Jean Toomer is regarded as one of the authors who have helped
in shaping the fiction of the 1980s.
1.3 Contemporary Afro-American writers
The most important thing to the Afro-American writer of this century,
both the old and the younger generations is the idea of using their
artistic talent to make things better for, themselves and the generality
of the blacks. The writers of the contemporary Afro-American literature
like their predecessors of the Harlem Renaissance are devoted to the
task of examining the social and political forces that have shaped: the
America culture. The centuriesof racial oppression and racial assertion
has influenced the Afro-American literary tradition. The whole range of
racial experience is entrenched in the oral traditions of the
Afro-American and since most black writers derive their sources from the
Afro-American culture and oral tradition, oral traditional and culture
continues to reflect and shape the Afro-American literary traditions.
Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison have won critical recognition and
acclaim as major America authors. Their works are regarded as
outstanding part of a literary tradition created by Afro-American
intellectuals. Their works are regarded as significant apart of a
distinct form of literary expression i.e. Afro-American fiction.
Wright''s ascension to a major rank among American writers of this
century is a significant issue in Afro-American literary history. His
literary achievements have been described as that which represented a
triumph of the human personality. Native Son (1940) is regarded as one
of the most important novels in contemporary American literature. The
literary achievements of both Wright and Ellison have been described in
term of top level performance. Wright is credited for the establishment
of a new naturalist school of black literature. His establishment of a
protest tradition protest tradition which influenced a host of other
black writers like Chester Himes and James Baldwin drew a lot of
attention from critics like Robert Bone who acknowledged the existence
of Wright School of thought. Protest stands out as a distinctive
character of Richard Wright''s art. He is regarded as the first black
novelist to depict the plight of urban masses and the first black
novelist to address the subject of racial oppression from the point of
view of the naturalistic tradition; a tradition which was hitherto
untapped by black American novelists. Native Son is regarded as Wright''s
pioneer effort in this regard. His works are said to have
"exerted an immense gravitational pull on subsequent Negro
fiction".9Wright''s disciples like him were preoccupied with protest.
Chester Himes is one of his notable- disciples. His novels If He Hollers
Let Him Go (1945) and Lonely Crusades (1947) were written in Wright''s
protest tradition.
Ellison stands out as a writer of the first magnitude in
Afro-American literature. He has been described as "one of those
original talents who has created a personal idiom to convert his
personal vision" 10 His novel only Invisible Man won the National Book
Award as the best American novel of 1952. He occupies a prominent place
in the Who is Who of Contemporary Black American Literature.
He repudiates Wright''s naturalism and turns to the broad tradition established by Joyce, Kafka and Faulkner.
His literary achievement is closely linked with his imaginative use
of black folk culture and folklore materials. This has influenced other
major Afro-American writers of recent times like Ishmael Reed whose
popular novel Mumbo Jumbo is describes as being related to
Ellison''s Invisible Man in terms of specific use of language and his
imaginative use of black American oral tradition and folklore.
The importance of Wright an Ellison lies in the fact that with the
publication of such novels as Native Son and Invisible Man, they have
set a high standard in contemporary black fiction.