Black Aesthetics and the Interior Life

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, African-American Studies
Cover of the book Black Aesthetics and the Interior Life by Christopher Freeburg, University of Virginia Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Christopher Freeburg ISBN: 9780813940335
Publisher: University of Virginia Press Publication: September 12, 2017
Imprint: University of Virginia Press Language: English
Author: Christopher Freeburg
ISBN: 9780813940335
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Publication: September 12, 2017
Imprint: University of Virginia Press
Language: English

Christopher Freeburg’s Black Aesthetics and the Interior Life offers a crucial new reading of a neglected aspect of African American literature and art across the long twentieth century. Rejecting the idea that the most dehumanizing of black experiences, such as lynching or other racial violence, have completely robbed victims of their personhood, Freeburg rethinks what it means to be a person in the works of black artists. This book advances the idea that individual persons always retain the ability to withhold, express, or change their ideas, and this concept has profound implications for long-held assumptions about the relationship between black interior life and black collective political interests.

Examining an array of seminal black texts—from Ida B. Wells’s antilynching pamphlets to works by Richard Wright, Nina Simone, and Toni Morrison—Freeburg demonstrates that the personhood represented by these writers unsettles rather than automatically strengthens black subjects’ relationships to political movements such as racial uplift, civil rights, and black nationalism. He shows how black artists illuminate the challenges of racial collectivity while stressing the vital stakes of individual personhood. In his challenge to current African Americanist criticism, Freeburg makes a striking contribution to our understanding of African American literature and culture.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Christopher Freeburg’s Black Aesthetics and the Interior Life offers a crucial new reading of a neglected aspect of African American literature and art across the long twentieth century. Rejecting the idea that the most dehumanizing of black experiences, such as lynching or other racial violence, have completely robbed victims of their personhood, Freeburg rethinks what it means to be a person in the works of black artists. This book advances the idea that individual persons always retain the ability to withhold, express, or change their ideas, and this concept has profound implications for long-held assumptions about the relationship between black interior life and black collective political interests.

Examining an array of seminal black texts—from Ida B. Wells’s antilynching pamphlets to works by Richard Wright, Nina Simone, and Toni Morrison—Freeburg demonstrates that the personhood represented by these writers unsettles rather than automatically strengthens black subjects’ relationships to political movements such as racial uplift, civil rights, and black nationalism. He shows how black artists illuminate the challenges of racial collectivity while stressing the vital stakes of individual personhood. In his challenge to current African Americanist criticism, Freeburg makes a striking contribution to our understanding of African American literature and culture.

More books from University of Virginia Press

Cover of the book The Haitian Declaration of Independence by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book Cities of Affluence and Anger by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book Drawing the Line by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book Partners or Rivals? by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book Richard Potter by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book Contesting Slavery by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book The Risen Phoenix by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book Do You Hear in the Mountains... and Other Stories by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book Landscape and Images by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book A Small Boy and Others by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book Elusive Equality by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book Higher Calling by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book Becoming Men of Some Consequence by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book Patriotism and Piety by Christopher Freeburg
Cover of the book Civil War Talks by Christopher Freeburg
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy