The Essential Black Literature Guide

This source aims to provide an increased understanding and appreciation of black literature. This text combines biography, plot synopsis and description of historic and modern movements, and presents information in a simple A-to-Z format. It includes discussion of: authors - from James Baldwin to Toni Morrison to Richard Wright; masterworks - from "I Know Why the Cages Bird Sings" to "Native Son" to "The Colour Purple"; literary styles - from surrealism to modernism to primitivism; movements that affected literature - from segregation and apartheid to civil rights; and descriptive details on spirituals, the Underground Railroad, the Harlem Rennaisance and other topics. Clearly defined are such terms as black nationalism, pan-Negro nationalism, the black aesthetic movement and the post-aesthetic movement.