The North Carolina Roots of African American Literature: An AnthologyWilliam L. Andrews The first African American to publish a book in the South, the author of the first female slave narrative in the United States, the father of black nationalism in America--these and other founders of African American literature have a surprising connection to one another: they all hailed from the state of North Carolina. This collection of poetry, fiction, autobiography, and essays showcases some of the best work of eight influential African American writers from North Carolina during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In his introduction, William L. Andrews explores the reasons why black North Carolinians made such a disproportionate contribution (in quantity and lasting quality) to African American literature as compared to that of other southern states with larger African American populations. The authors in this anthology parlayed both the advantages and disadvantages of their North Carolina beginnings into sophisticated perspectives on the best and the worst of which humanity, in both the South and the North, was capable. They created an African American literary tradition unrivaled by that of any other state in the South. Writers included here are Charles W. Chesnutt, Anna Julia Cooper, David Bryant Fulton, George Moses Horton, Harriet Jacobs, Lunsford Lane, Moses Roper, and David Walker. |
From inside the book
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Page 10
... story made all the more unsettling by the deadpan manner of its telling. Promising his readers “an impartial statement of facts” (p. 00), the author introduces himself in the opening scene as the son of a white man, identified only as ...
... story made all the more unsettling by the deadpan manner of its telling. Promising his readers “an impartial statement of facts” (p. 00), the author introduces himself in the opening scene as the son of a white man, identified only as ...
Page 11
... story. The former slave seems reliably self-controlled and evenhanded, while his antagonists, the slaveholders, goaded by absolute power and unbridled passions, succumb to the most appalling callousness and brutality. Thus Roper's ...
... story. The former slave seems reliably self-controlled and evenhanded, while his antagonists, the slaveholders, goaded by absolute power and unbridled passions, succumb to the most appalling callousness and brutality. Thus Roper's ...
Page 13
... story regret over certain aspects of his conduct on the road, “which I now deeply deplore” (p. 00). “The ignorance in which the poor slaves are kept by their masters, precludes almost the possibility of their being alive to any moral ...
... story regret over certain aspects of his conduct on the road, “which I now deeply deplore” (p. 00). “The ignorance in which the poor slaves are kept by their masters, precludes almost the possibility of their being alive to any moral ...
Page 14
... stories on a note of relief and gratitude after having eluded what Lane called “the stern, cruel, hated hand of slavery” (p. 00).30 Lane was never menaced by the physical cruelties that Roper cataloged in excruciating detail in his story ...
... stories on a note of relief and gratitude after having eluded what Lane called “the stern, cruel, hated hand of slavery” (p. 00).30 Lane was never menaced by the physical cruelties that Roper cataloged in excruciating detail in his story ...
Page 16
... story, Lane's Narrative becomes one of the rare firsthand antebellum accounts of a successful black entrepreneur who was also a slave. Ambitious, industrious, and well-connected through his master to other important whites, Lane and his ...
... story, Lane's Narrative becomes one of the rare firsthand antebellum accounts of a successful black entrepreneur who was also a slave. Ambitious, industrious, and well-connected through his master to other important whites, Lane and his ...
Contents
1 | |
Statement of Editorial Practice | 41 |
GEORGE MOSES HORTON | 43 |
DAVID WALKER | 69 |
MOSES ROPER | 89 |
LUNSFORD LANE | 139 |
HARRIET JACOBS | 171 |
CHARLES W CHESNUTT | 217 |
ANNA JULIA COOPER | 263 |
DAVID BRYANT FULTON | 289 |
Timeline | 311 |
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The North Carolina Roots of African American Literature: An Anthology William L. Andrews Limited preview - 2006 |
The North Carolina Roots of African American Literature: An Anthology William L. Andrews Limited preview - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
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