Title The sermon and the African American literary imagination / Dolan Hubbard

Published Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri Press, ©1994

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Description 1 online resource (xiii, 176 pages) Contents Toward a definition of the African American sermon -- Sermonic hermeneutics in early black narratives -- Recontextualizing the sermon to tell (her) story : Their eyes were watching God -- The sermon without limits and the limits of the sermon : Invisible man -- The sermon as cultural history : Go tell it on the mountain -- The sermon and the recovery of community : Song of Solomon and Beloved -- Voices and visions Summary Characterized by oral expression and ritual performance, the black church has been a dynamic force in African American culture. In The Sermon and the African American Literary Imagination, Dolan Hubbard explores the profound influence of the sermon upon both the themes and the styles of African American literature. Beginning with an exploration of the historic role of the preacher in African American culture and fiction, Hubbard examines the church as a forum for organizing black social reality. Like political speeches, jazz, and blues, the sermon is an aesthetic construct, interrelated with other aspects of African American cultural expression. Arguing that the African American sermonic tradition is grounded in a self-consciously collective vision, Hubbard applies this vision to the themes and patterns of black American literature. With nuanced readings of the work of Frederick Douglass, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, James Weldon Johnson, Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison, Hubbard reveals how the African American sermonic tradition has influenced black American prose fiction. He shows how African American writers have employed the forms of the black preaching style, with all their expressive power, and he explores such recurring themes as the quest for freedom and literacy, the search for identity and community, the lure of upward mobility, the fictionalizing of history, and the use of romance to transform an oppressive history into a vision of mythic transcendence. The Sermon and the African American Literary Imagination is a major addition to the fields of African American literary and religious studies Analysis English literature By Black persons United States Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 151-167) and index Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL English Print version record digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL Subject American literature -- African American authors -- History and criticism Sermons, American -- African American authors -- History and criticism Fiction -- Religious aspects -- Christianity. African Americans in literature. Christianity and literature. African Americans -- Religion. Science fiction -- Religious aspects -- Christianity. LITERARY CRITICISM -- American -- General. Science fiction -- Religious aspects -- Christianity African Americans in literature African Americans -- Religion American literature -- African American authors Christianity and literature Fiction -- Religious aspects -- Christianity Sermons, American -- African American authors Rezeption Literatur Predigt Amerikaans. Preken. Letterkunde. Noirs américains -- Dans la littérature. Littérature américaine -- Auteurs noirs américains -- Histoire et critique. Roman -- Aspect religieux. Christianisme et littérature. Noirs américains -- Religion. Schwärze USA Genre/Form Fiction Criticism, interpretation, etc. Fiction. Romans. Form Electronic book ISBN 0826260829 9780826260826

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