The Growth Of African American Literature In The United States

By Author: jhon trot
Total Articles: 21
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If you find not too many classics written by African American authors, then you have observed rightly. But have you ever tried to investigate why there are not many black American authors? The answer is obviously quite simple. The facts lie in the history of American growth and development.The modern America we see today, powerful and privileged, has been built upon the works of the African and slaves of other countries, ethnicities and cultures.So essentially, it was the slave driven economy that helped America thrive. Racism continued in America till a very long time and it is still quite prominent today.The only improvement has been the de-institutionalization of racism to a large extent, i.e. the racial laws that used to discriminate have been replaced by either neutral laws or by ones that encourage positive discrimination or what is often called "affirmative action". If we look at the historical development of any nation's cultural and literary growth, we will see socio-economic and political factors play a major role. We see the formalist and romantic literature dominating Russian culture in the pre-revolutionary and ...
... Tsarist days. This was a result of the domination of the rich, feudal forces in pre-Soviet Russia. Again, in Germany and France, we find artistic and abstract forms of art, like Expressionist and Impressionist forms respectively, predominating. Similarly, the extreme form of racism in the United States of America led to a handful of radical black authors whose writings were predominantly about the torture and discrimination inflicted by the whites on them. Richard Wright is one such gem among the classic African American authors.

Today, with the rise of more democratic and progressive values in American society, we find more and more black authors making their presence felt. They are writing books, maintaining blogs by self publishing, creating websites and other sources to make their voices heard and opinions known. There are plenty of such blogs and sites and internet forums etc. that can be accessed by anyone and which are almost exclusively about the black community, the issues and problems they have and how solutions could be arrived at. There are even exclusive African American publishing houses, which range from very small and informal ones to large and commercial ones as well. Just like the size, the intent behind these Black self publishing efforts also varies. For some of these, the sole purpose is the maintenance and propagation of the Black community's culture, voice and stronghold. It not only gives them confidence as a newly liberated peoples, but it also seeks to open up new ways of liberating themselves even further. However, there are ones that cleverly mix the two intentions of ideology and commercial benefit. These are essentially business ventures which, in the garb of furthering the black agenda, have really taken advantage of using a targeted market and consumer base. Nonetheless, both have a part to play in the black people's struggles against oppression and racism. While one gives mental and ideological motivation and support and builds momentum for revolution, the other provides the much needed monetary development and material support to the black community in America.