Black on Black

by John Cullen Gruesser

" Black on Black provides the first comprehensive analysis of the modern African American literary response to Africa, from W.E.B. Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk to Alice Walker's The Color Purple . Combining cutting-edge theory, extensive historical and archival research, and close readings of individual texts, Gruesser reveals the diversity of the African American response to Countee Cullen's question, ""What is Africa to Me?"" John Gruesser...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813121639
• ISBN13: 9780813121635
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Tracks the authors' rejection of Ethiopianism in literature

Black on Black uses the works of Du Bois and Alice Walker as a framework for tracking the authors' rejection of Ethiopianism in literature. In the 1920s some blacks began questioning the popular foundations of Ethiopianism: by the 1950s and 60s, rejection was in full swing. This examines the foundations and history of 20th century Afro-American literature about Africa and provides some important perspectives.

A critically important, superbly presented survey.

Black On Black uses the works of Du Bois and Alice Walker as a framework for tracking the authors' rejection of Ethiopianism in literature. In the 1920s some blacks began questioning the popular foundations of Ethiopianism: by the 1950s and 60s, rejection was in full swing. Black On Black examines the foundations and history of 20th century Afro-American literature about Africa and provides some important perspectives.

An outstanding contribution to Black Studies.

In Black on Black, John Gruesser begins with Du Bois and Alice Walker's writings and tracks the growing rejection of the Ethiopianist stand in literature, from the 1920s when black writers began questioning its tenants to its final rejection in the 1950s. The view that black Americans will deliver a bright future to Africa is refuted in this survey of 20th century Afro-American writings about Africa.