By lynching, burning, castrating, raping, and mutilating black people, contends Trudier Harris, white Americans were perfomring a rite of exorcism designed to eradicate the "black beast" from their midst, or, at the very least, to render him powerless and emasculated. Black writers have graphically portrayed such tragic incidents in their writings. In doing so, they seem to be acting out a communal role-a perpetuation of an oral tradition bent on the survival of the race. Exorcising Blackness demonstrates that the ...
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By lynching, burning, castrating, raping, and mutilating black people, contends Trudier Harris, white Americans were perfomring a rite of exorcism designed to eradicate the "black beast" from their midst, or, at the very least, to render him powerless and emasculated. Black writers have graphically portrayed such tragic incidents in their writings. In doing so, they seem to be acting out a communal role-a perpetuation of an oral tradition bent on the survival of the race. Exorcising Blackness demonstrates that the closeness and intensity of black people's historical experiences sometimes overshadows, frequently infuses and enhances, and definitely makes richer in texture the art of black writers. By reviewing the historical and literary interconnections of the rituals of exorcism, Harris opens up the hidden psyche-the soul-of black American writers.
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Add this copy of Exorcising Blackness: Historical and Literary Lynching to cart. $6.05, good condition, Sold by Books From California rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Simi Valley, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1984 by Indiana University Press.
Add this copy of Exorcising Blackness to cart. $6.48, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1984 by Indiana University Press.
Add this copy of Exorcising Blackness to cart. $41.08, like new condition, Sold by GreatBookPrices rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Columbia, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1984 by Indiana University Press.
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Fine. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. 244 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Add this copy of Exorcising Blackness: Historical and Literary Lynching to cart. $45.00, very good condition, Sold by ZENO'S rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from San Francisco, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1984 by Indiana University Press.
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Bloomington. 1984. Indiana University Press. 1st Printing. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0253319951. 222 pages. hardcover. keywords: Literary Criticism Literature African American. FROM THE PUBLISHER-Incidents of white people lynching, burning, castrating, raping, and mutilating black people have had a powerful impact on the literary work of black men and women writers since 1853. Black writers from Charles Waddell Chesnutt to Sutton Griggs, from Paul Laurence Dunbar to James Weldon Johnson, from Richard Wright to James Baldwin, and from Langston Hughes to Ralph Ellison have graphically portrayed these tragic scenes in their writings. In doing so, Trudier Harris claims, they seem to be acting out a communal role-a perpetuation of an oral tradition bent on the survival of the race. Reviewing the historic al literature of ritual violence prevalent in Afro-American life and culture, Harris believes white Americans were performing a rite of exorcism designed to eradicate the ‘black beast' from their midst, or, at the very least, to render him powerless and emasculated. This exorcism was the result of such offenses as daring to look at or speak to a white person, wearing fancy clothes, having too much education, slapping a white person, or killing a white person. However, the most vindictive and gruesome retaliation came for presumed sex crimes by black men-the ultimate taboo. Harris probes the recurrent fear of castration and the various levels of emasculation-psychological, political, social, and physical-that persist as a major theme in black male writers' work. Black male writers, much more than black women writers, draw upon the historical records of ritualized violence. Harris probes the reasons why black writers have persisted in presenting these brutal scenes. She asks: ‘How much is voluntary? How much is expected? How much is racial memory? How much is political? How much is true substance of art? How much is personal fear? How much is confrontation? How much is it their own form of exorcism? ' She shows how more recent black writers like John Wideman, David Bradley, and Toni Morrison have attempted to reverse the ritual or go beyond it. EXORCISING BLACKNESS demonstrates that the closeness and intensity of black people's historical experiences sometimes overshadow, frequently infuse and enhance, and definitely make richer in texture, the art of black writers. By reviewing the historical and literary interconnections of the rituals of exorcism Trudier Harris opens up the hidden psyche-the soul-of black American writers. inventory #17046.
Add this copy of Exorcising Blackness to cart. $45.56, new condition, Sold by GreatBookPrices rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Columbia, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1984 by Indiana University Press.
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New. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. 244 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
