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Full-Text Articles in African American Studies
Paintings And Biodomes, Cameron Osteen
Paintings And Biodomes, Cameron Osteen
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The novel PYM by Mat Johnson seems on the surface to be a light-hearted, comedic, summer vacation easy read. It is parodic, but not in a cynical or harsh way, and it is relatively simple and often quite silly in its plot and structure. It would be easy to read PYM and not have any consideration of it as a piece of lasting or significant literature. There are, however, many elements in PYM that open it up to analysis, revealing an intricate and extremely well-constructed novel whose themes and implications carry a great deal of significance. Jean Baudrillard's theory of …
Melvillian Whiteness In Johnson's Pym, Jess Mandeville
Melvillian Whiteness In Johnson's Pym, Jess Mandeville
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Henry Louis Gates write that "Afro-American literary history is characterized by ... formal revision," wherein "black writers read and critique other ... texts as an act of rhetorical self-definition" (992). This revision is accomplished by a unique process of signification, an "Afro-American rhetorical strategy... [that] turns on the play and chain of signifiers" (989) drawn from literary and cultural texts, utilizing techniques such as "figuration, troping, ... parody ... [and] pastiche" (992).
Tsalal, Patrick Pride
Tsalal, Patrick Pride
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In “Tsalal: The 19th Century American Nightmare” I examine Edgar Allan Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket through Toni Morrison’s theory that an African presence exist in 19th-century American literature. In “Black Matter(s)” Morrison argues that this African presence in 19th century literature expresses the fears of American society. Thus, I examine The Narrative of Gordon Arthur Pym in order to see how blackness symbolizes the fears of 19th-century America.