Afro-American Literature in the Twentieth Century: The Achievement of Intimacy

by Michael G. Cooke

Book Overview

Michael Cooke examines the essential structure of Afro-American literature as it has developed in the twentieth-century, with special attention to works by Jean Toomer, Zora Neal Hurston, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Robert Hayden, and Alice Walker.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300036248
• ISBN13: 9780300036244
• Release Date: March 1986
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 242 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A useful and difficult book

Michael Cooke's discussion of 20th century African-American literature comes from the best methods and writing available to comparative literature specialists. He discusses in detail how the historical position of African-Americans affected the development of literature motifs and styles, especially around the portrayal of "self," which, due to the profound racism of America, always involved either veiling the self (for protection and ironic subversion of white dominance) or movement-toward-intimacy (in the face of dangers and distortions). His themes develop from W.E.B. Du Bois' articulation of "the veil" in Souls of Black Folks, and, as Henry Gates says, the development of an authentic black American aesthetic.Cooke's writing is elegant and comprehensive. You have to be a dedicated reader, however. The themes are clearly stated, but his ability to use multiple sources and references requires some substantial background and adept thinking. I believe that sections of this book would be appropriate for an honors-level high school African-American literature course, or the whole text for a college-level US or African-American literature course.I believe that Cooke's insight into the development of intimacy within the black literary spectrum is well worth considering.