| Description |
1 online resource (xiii, 260 pages) |
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text txt rdacontent |
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computer c rdamedia |
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online resource cr rdacarrier |
| Series |
ACLS Humanities E-Book.
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| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-252) and index. |
| Contents |
1. The Paradigmatic Gesture -- 2. The Tropes of Black Detection -- 3. Early African American Adaptations of Detective Conventions -- 4. Detective of the Harlem Renaissance: Rudolph Fisher -- 5. City within a City: The Detective Fiction of Chester Himes -- 6. The Black Anti-Detective Novel. |
| Summary |
This illuminating book makes the case for a tradition of African American detective fiction -- novels written by black Americans about black detectives and incorporating distinctly African American tropes and themes. Beginning with Pauline Hopkins in 1901, black authors consciously altered and subverted the formulas of detective fiction in significant ways. Such writers as J. E. Bruce, Rudolph Fisher, Chester Himes, Ishmael Reed, and Clarence Major created a new genre that responded to the social and political concerns of the black community. Examining the work of these authors, Stephen Soitos frames his analysis in terms of four uniquely African American tropes: altered detective personas, double-consciousness detection, black vernaculars, and hoodoo. He argues that black writers created sleuths who were in fact "blues detectives," engaged not only in solving crimes, but also in exploring the mysteries of black life and culture. Soitos grounds his study in African American literary theory, particularly the work of Houston Baker, Bernard Bell, and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. He offers both a new way of conceiving black detective fiction and a series of insightful readings of books in this genre. -- From product description. |
| Reproduction |
Electronic text and image data. Ann Arbor, Mich. : University of Michigan, Michigan Publishing, 2024. EPUB file. ([ACLS Humanities E-Book]) |
| Note |
All rights reserved. |
| Subject |
Detective and mystery stories, American -- History and criticism.
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American fiction -- African American authors -- History and criticism.
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African Americans in literature.
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| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
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| Added Author |
American Council of Learned Societies, issuing body.
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| In: |
ACLS Humanities E-Book. http://www.humanitiesebook.org/ |
| ISBN |
9780870239953 (electronic bk.) |
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0870239953 |
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0585084165 (electronic bk.) |
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9780585084169 (electronic bk.) |
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0870239961 |
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0870239953 |
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9780870239960 (pbk. ; alk. paper) |
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9781685750565 (ebk) |
| Standard No. |
heb40171 hdl |
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