Slave Songs and the Birth of African American Poetry - Softcover

Ramey, L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0230100341 ISBN 13: 9780230100343

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

Synopsis

In this insightful and provocative volume, Rameyreveals spirituals and slave songs to be a crucial element in American literature. This book shows slave songs'intrinsic value as lyric poetry, sheds light on their roots and originality, anddraws new conclusions on anart form long considereda touchstone of cultural imagination.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

In spite of the unique beauty and universal appeal of African American spirituals, they are rarely considered to be lyric poetry. In the first major study, this book attests that the spirituals deserve a central place in the African American and American poetry canon as one of a foundational and distinctive body of lyric expression. Ramey restores the slave songs to their rightful place in literary tradition for their intrinsic value as poetry, and as a touchstone of the American imagination.

About the Author:

Lauri Ramey is Director of the Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics, and Professor of African American Literature and Culture, Creative Writing and American Studies, at California State University at Los Angeles. She is the author of Black British Writing, with R. Victoria Arana; Every Goodbye Ain't Gone: Innovative Poetry by African Americans and What I Say: Innovative Poetry by Black Writers in America, both with Aldon Lynn Nielsen; and The Heritage Series of Black Poetry, 1962-1975: A Research Compendium. She is currently writing A History of African American Poetry (Cambridge University Press), which will document the full 400 year history of this genre.

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0230100341
• ISBN 13: 9780230100343
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 215