Reading African American Autobiography ― Twenty-first-century Contexts and Criticism

Contributed by English and literature scholars from the US, the 10 essays in this volume examine African American autobiography from 21st-century critical approaches, looking at autobiographies in different historical periods, how they examine the self, routes of dissemination, types of texts, and textual layers. They explore an autobiographical confession of a servant named Arthur; early black men's spiritual autobiography; Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vasso, the African, Written by Himself; the visual properties of black autobiography, particularly the photos in William J. Edwards' Twenty-Five Years in the Black Belt; and the autobiographical writings of Richard Wright, including Black Boy. Others look at the autobiographical comics of Richard “Grass” Green (Un-Fold Funnies) and Samuel R. Delany (Bread & Wine: An Erotic Tale of New York); black women's use of Buddhism in autobiography, focusing on Angel Kyodo Williams' Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace, Jan Willis' Dreaming Me: An African American Woman's Spiritual Journey, and Faith Adiele's Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun; the works of blogger and author Angela Nissel; works by African American transracial adoptees Jaiya John (Black Baby White Hands: A View from the Crib) and Catherine E. McKinley (The Book of Sarahs: A Family in Parts); and Foxy: My Life in Three Acts by Pam Grier. Annotation ©2017 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)