Chapter 18. Race and Literary Politics
- Paul Lauter president
Published Online: 16 MAR 2010
DOI: 10.1002/9781444320626.ch18
Copyright © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd except for editorial material and organization © 2010 Paul Lauter
Book Title
A Companion to American Literature and Culture
Additional Information
How to Cite
Smith Foster, F. and Jackson, C. (2010) Race and Literary Politics, in A Companion to American Literature and Culture (ed P. Lauter), Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK. doi: 10.1002/9781444320626.ch18
Editor Information
Trinity College (Hartford), UK
Publication History
- Published Online: 16 MAR 2010
- Published Print: 26 MAR 2010
Book Series:
ISBN Information
Print ISBN: 9780631208921
Online ISBN: 9781444320626
- Summary
- Chapter
Keywords:
- race and literary politics;
- myth of race, persistent factor in shaping American culture;
- Thomas Jefferson, whose racial theories in Notes on the State of Virginia symbolizing those of American liberal intellectuals;
- Darwin's theory, a common origin to all humans and refuted polygenism - not assuming that all human races were equal;
- subject of race and literary politics in the United States - vast and complicated;
- James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans (1826);
- Ann Plato in “The Natives of America” - their “Indian fathers” and a peaceful time when “We all were then as in one band”;
- many African-American writers - emphasizing that “black” was not synonymous with “slave,” “ignorant,” or “poor”;
- Stowe's representation of mixed-race - William Wells Brown's portrayal in Clotel; or The President's Daughter (1853);
- Hopkins's supposed lack of representativeness in the face of New Negro ideology - excluding her from the masthead of The Colored American
Summary
This chapter contains sections titled:
References and Further Reading